


What Was Yet to Come

by doctorsorders_deathboy



Series: Solangelo Hogwarts AU [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Chaptered, Fluff, Gryffindor!Percy, Hogwarts AU, M/M, fluff with plot, gryffindor!jason, gryffindor!nico, hufflepuff!frank, hufflepuff!will, ravenclaw!annabeth, slytherin!piper, solangelo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-06-01 06:59:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6505846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorsorders_deathboy/pseuds/doctorsorders_deathboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico isn't happy with his life at the moment. He's stuck in a house he doesn't feel like he belongs in with a hopeless crush he never asked for. He doesn't feel accepted at school or at home and just wishes to get away.</p><p>Will is scared for his life. Tensions are rising in the Wizarding World and, as a muggleborn, he doesn't know what his future will entail. The only thing he knows for certain is that he's very in love and highly annoyed with his friends.</p><p>Their lives are thrown for a loop when the Wizarding World falls into turmoil and it's all they can do to hope that the next day will be better than the last.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nico

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't yet read my last fic, Cologne, it's a prequel sort of thing to this fic. Whereas you don't necessarily need to read it in order to enjoy this one, it does have some character building and fluff you might enjoy :)

Nico had grown up hearing the same line over and over.

“The world doesn’t owe you anything, Nico. You live and then you die and it’s entirely your job to make the most of that short lifetime you’ve been allowed.”

Nico had always thought that was stupid coming from a man who clearly thought of himself as higher than many others due to his wealth and status, but then again, the quote matched Nico’s father very well. Cold. Brutal. And, unfortunately, honest.

Hades di Angelo was the kind of man who had a somewhat small collection of lines that he frequently used, because for most situations there was a Hades quote. The unfortunate thing was that Hades quotes were never terribly uplifting.

“Well that’s just the way things are.”

“It’s best not to overthink it.”

“Just pray that death is kinder to you than life has been.”

“The past is in the past so I suggest you stop bringing it up.”

“Nico. Stop.”

“For the love of Merlin, stop asking so many questions.”

“Just… Leave me be.”

“Well if you don’t want to be a disappointment, Nico, then stop being one.”

But the one that had started running through Nico’s head lately was, “Stop complaining about bad things happening to you and just be thankful for the fact that things are happening at all.”

For the first time, Nico actually thought that line made sense. Because the terrible, terrible thing about Nico’s life at the moment was that  _ nothing was happening _ . And he was about to scream if something didn’t happen soon.

It had been exactly seventeen days since Nico had accidentally sort of admitted having feelings for Will. Not that Nico was counting. But  _ honestly _ , seventeen days?! Seventeen days and Will hadn’t said a word. Jason had brought it up plenty, of course, but Will had just stopped acknowledging the fact that it had happened. But then again, maybe Nico should be grateful for that. Because Will clearly didn’t return the feelings and it was better that Will gave him the chance to forget about it instead of teasing him.

Frustratingly, that didn’t make Nico feel any less angry.

Nico was angry with Will for being attractive, with Jason for continuously teasing him, with Asclepius for making the class brew Amortentia in the first place, but mostly with himself for being stupid enough to be late to potions class and then blindly comment about how the room smelled like Will. How could he have been so clueless?!

But life had gone on. Will continued to tease Nico when they passed each other, though Nico’s teasing in response had grown noticeably more aggressive. Of course, no one had given Nico’s attitude a second thought. Nico had a reputation for not being a very pleasant person.

One day in second year, when they were supposed to be studying, Jason had looked up and asked, “Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?” Nico had asked in response, already defensive at having been called out for something.

“I dunno. Just… Just constantly looking like you’re plotting someone’s gruesome murder.”

“Who says I’m not?” Nico had quipped, unsure of how else to respond. He just frowned a lot. He always had.

Jason had bitten his lip, widening his eyes.

“That was a joke, Grace.”

“Well, yeah, yeah I knew that, just… You can be pretty scary, you know.”

Nico had rolled his eyes, returning his attention to the parchment in front of him. “Runs in the family,” he’d deadpanned.

Jason was silent for a while before asking, “Do you ever think you got sorted into the wrong house?”

Nico’s hand had stilled, leaving ink dripping from his quill. He could remember looking Jason directly in the eye for the first time and saying, “Every day.”

For some reason, he had found himself as Jason’s friend from that day on. It’d taken him a long time to figure out why Jason had chosen him for a desk partner rather than Percy, who Jason was clearly closer friends with, but when it did hit him, it hit him hard: Jason did it out of pity.

There were multiple times during Nico’s life that he’d felt his feet getting swept out from under him. Namely, when he’d discovered how he felt about Will Solace. But the biggest, worst surprise he’d ever had was when the Sorting Hat had been placed on his head before calling out, “GRYFFINDOR!” loud and clear. Even now, five years later, he still thought it was a mistake.

Growing up, he’d never been particularly fond of his father, who was a Slytherin just like the rest of Nico’s ancestors. He had, however, had to admit to something he hated very much: he and his father were very alike.

His younger sister, Hazel, had always known she wasn’t a Slytherin. That was why she’d begged to go to Beauxbatons, which their stepmom had luckily thought was a lovely idea. Persephone had gone to Beauxbatons herself and was delighted that Hazel wanted to follow in her footsteps. Little did she know, it wasn’t that Hazel wanted to go to school in France, it was that she didn’t want to be sorted.

But Nico had never been nervous about getting sorted into a different house and damaging the family name. He was obviously a Slytherin.

Except that he wasn’t.

~*~

On a late November morning, he settled down next to Jason in potions class, determinedly not letting himself look in Will’s direction.

“Alright, class,” Asclepius called. “As today’s potion is a bit more difficult, you have permission to work with a partner.”

The class immediately burst into excited chatter, before stopping as Asclepius once again raised his hand.

“However,” he let his gaze travel around the room as if warning them that they weren’t going to like what they were about to hear, “Your partner cannot be in your own house.”

The class stayed silent.  _ Did we hear that right? _

“Page 428. I suggest you get to work. I will be walking around to check on you all.”

The class started to scramble to find a partner. Nico was extremely unhappy with this arrangement. He disliked having to talk to new people, and people weren’t particularly drawn to him as they were to Jason and Percy. But then it got worse.

“Nico!” came a familiar voice from behind him. Nico tensed. No  _ way _ was he working with Will Solace. Even though he didn’t turn his head, he could tell Will was trying to make his way towards him, so he quickly looked around for a different Hufflepuff that he was at least somewhat familiar with and called out the name of the first one he saw.

“Frank!”

Hazel’s boyfriend turned his head to see Nico hurrying towards him.

“Do you have a partner?” Nico asked, hoping he didn’t sound too desperate.

Frank smiled, shaking his head. “Nope.”

Nico let out a sigh of relief, dropping into the seat next to him. As he opened his book to find the potion they were supposed to be working on, he finally let himself glance over at Will, who it appeared had partnered up with Jason. Nico’s heart clenched.

_ Stop complaining about bad things happening to you and just be thankful for the fact that things are happening at all. _

Merlin, he wished something would happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp there you go, 1k of exposition and character building. Whoopdeedoo. (But seriously, how're you feeling so far?)
> 
> Come say hi to me on tumblr! (@doctorsorders-deathboy)
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos keep me writing :D*~
> 
> -Aspen
> 
> IMPORTANT: What house do you guys feel like Leo, Reyna, and Piper belong in? My headcanons are conflicting so please tell me yours!


	2. Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that this fic is going to be updated every Sunday from now on, and I'm also going to be working on making my updates a bit lengthier than they normally are. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter :/ I had exams all week so I didn't have a chance to rewrite this like I hoped I would. Hopefully you all enjoy it regardless :)

If he was honest with himself, Will had plenty of fears. He was afraid of failure, rejection, the dark (yeah, yeah, he was sixteen years old and was still scared of what was under his bed, get over it), etc. But something he’d always been proud of was that he wasn’t afraid of change.

Until now.

Will had always thought that it was irrational to be afraid of change (never mind that being scared of the dark isn’t the most rational thing) because it was inevitable. Lives constantly changed and there was nothing that could be done about it. Dreading change was like dreading life itself.

So Will had never let the fear of his life going in a new direction scare him. He didn’t get scared when his family relocated so that his father could work at a new medical practice. He didn’t get scared when he fell in love with a raven haired boy who he doubted would ever love him back. He didn’t even get scared when he first found out that he was going to Hogwarts.

Granted, at first he was too confused to be scared and once he’d figured out what was going on, he’d freaked out a bit, but at least he hadn’t passed out like his mother. And honestly, who could blame an eleven year old for getting a bit overwhelmed when he first found out that  _ magic was actually real _ . But even when he’d been on the Hogwarts Express, he hadn’t been afraid. A bit nervous, sure, but not scared. He’d been excited. He wasn’t worried about being the only inexperienced one there, because he’d been assured that there were many other muggleborn wizards.

But now he was terrified.

It started with whispers. Rumors passed throughout the castle, none of which bothered Will at first. He already knew that there were people out there who hated him for his parentage. It was a fact that he’d learned a long time ago and had quickly come to accept. There were also plenty of people who’d hate him for being gay if they ever found out. That was just the way things were.

But then the rumors started turning into newspaper articlesㅡ small ones, of course. Just a few paragraphs in the margins of the World News section that spoke of crimes committed against muggleborns and their families. The mini articles became frequent and people stopped giving them much thought. That was just the cruelty of the world, they supposed. 

But then the summer before sixth year, a new article appeared. It took up the entire front page with a moving picture to go with it.  _ MUGGLEBORN MASSACRE _ read the title, which Will had seen when the owl delivered it to him in his bedroom on the 15th of July. And it was then, as he sat on his bed bathed in the first rays of morning light, that he began to fear change.

A group of pureblood elitists had attacked a small neighborhood where muggleborn children and their muggle families had been known to live. Multiple homes were burned to the ground or looted, and many were injured. Three had diedㅡ a fifteen year old muggleborn and his father and younger sister, who had been only seven. Will hadn’t shown the article to his parents. He knew it was beyond their control and would only cause them panic.

But even that article seemed to fade in importance, despite similar attacks taking place more often. When the school year started, the violence died down due to the fact that many muggleborns were now in the safety of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Will became distracted by schoolwork and a certain dark haired Gryffindor.

But there was a constant nagging in his mind that the world was changing. It was getting worse. And for the first time in his life, Will felt distinctly terrified of what was to come.

~*~

When Asclepius had first announced that the class was supposed to work with someone from a different house, Will had assumed that it was a one time thing. But it turned out, Asclepius thought it was important that the houses paired up more.

“Today you’ll be choosing your desk partner for the remainder of the year. It can be whoever you like, as long as you are both in different houses. I don’t think any of you are unaware of the current state of the Wizarding World. Tensions between houses and blood statuses are rising and the first step to fixing the issue is to start breaking down the barriers between the factions we have divided ourselves into. You have sixty seconds to choose your new partner.”

Will glanced over at Nico but the Gryffindor was already moving his things to Frank Zhang’s desk. Will frowned. He hadn’t even known that they were friends. Will met Jason’s eyes and nodded, moving over to sit beside him.

Will took a deep breath as he unloaded his bag. Nico had a bad habit of making him feel too much. Way too many things, all at once. Will tried to act and think analytically when possible, using logic to make decisions rather than emotion. He knew that if he ever wanted to be a medic of some sort, whether in the wizarding or muggle world, he’d need to have that skill. When you have a human’s life in your hands, it’s important to make the decision that makes the most medical sense, not the one you’re tempted to make out of desperation. But Nico made Will throw his efforts of being wise right out the window. 

Will had spent more hours than he’d care to admit pestering Nico in the library when they were both supposed to be studying, and he’d spent the majority of most Quidditch matches gazing across the field trying to find Nico in the crowd of Gryffindors. It wasn’t until a long time later that he learned that Nico never even went to Quidditch matches, not unless Jason made him, but Nico usually used homework as an excuse not to go which Jason couldn’t exactly argue against.

And now, for the first time in a long time, Will wasn’t talking to Nico. And damn, it was hard to do.

After the Amortentia incident, Will had spent a good portion of the evening wandering aimlessly around the Hufflepuff common room, probably looking like a moron. His feelings were going haywire, so he attempted looking at the situation from a logical angle. That was, of course, where it all fell apart.

_ Maybe _ Nico liked him.  _ Maybe  _ that was why he smelled Will’s cologne. But  _ maybe _ Nico hadn’t actually smelled Will at all.  _ Maybe  _ he’d just been teasing him as usual and his timing happened to be unfortunate. Or  _ maybe _ Nico just really liked Will’s cologne. That didn’t mean he liked Will. 

Will spent an embarrassing amount of his day overanalyzing what Nico’s remark had meant. He’d attempted getting some studying done, but had found that he couldn’t focus. Instead, he replayed the scene over and over in his head. Over. And over. And over.

He’d come to the wise conclusion that he didn’t have a clue what was going on, so he chose to pretend it simply hadn’t happened. He continued on with their normal routine of him giving Nico a hard time and Nico retorting with insults of his own. But something was off. Will wasn’t an idiot, he’d noticed how Nico seemed angrier than usual, so Will had gone for a new tactic. He’d started ignoring him.

This was no easy feat for Will, either, especially considering he’d spent the last few years of his life going out of his way to speak to Nico whenever he could. But talking to Nico clearly wasn’t the best choice at the moment. He’d written to Lou Ellen and Cecil asking for advice on what the hell he was supposed to do.

But now he was sitting in Potions Class, trying very hard not to look over at Nico constantly while struggling on a particularly difficult potion. When class ended he allowed himself a glance in Nico’s direction, only to see him tucking a stray lock of hair endearingly behind his ear. Merlin, Lou Ellen and Cecil better not take too long to get back to him.

Luckily for him, one thing happened to work out for him that day, because when he got back to his room he found an envelope sitting on his bed. He rushed to rip it open, pulling out the letter inside.

_ Dear Romeo, _

_ My apologies that you’ll only be getting my expert advice today, as Cecil is busy and I understood from your letter that this is a very urgent matter, so I wanted to get you a response as quickly as possible. _

_ Here is my statement: YOU ARE AN IDIOT, WILL SOLACE. JESUS CHRIST ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THIS GUY ADMITTED HE’S INTO YOU?! Listen, you provided me with an unsatisfactory amount of details (which I will be sure to get from you when you come home for Christmas mister) but if you are telling me that he MIGHT have accidentally admitted that he finds you attractive then I can assure you that he DOES. _

_ Now I kindly suggest that you get your lonely ass out of your comfort zone and ask this boy out (and send me a pic jfc I want to see if this kid is as attractive as you say). Seriously, Will. He’s not going to turn you down. He was being touchy because he’s NERVOUS that he just ADMITTED THAT HE LOVES YOU, YOU ADORABLY FRUSTRATING BEING. _

_ Please put on your big boy pants and make a move, Will. If it’s any motivation for you: if you don’t do this then Cecil and I will not give you a break about it at Christmastime. You have been warned. _

_ Your Love Advice Genius (thank god you have me in your life), _

_ Lou Ellen _

Will couldn’t help but smile even though he wasn’t exactly happy with Lou Ellen’s response. It had confirmed what he’d feared: that he’d have to actually ask Nico out.

He scowled, angry with himself. He’d been dreaming about something like this happening for years now. Why was he chickening out when he finally got the chance?

Because there was still a chance of rejection. And Will’s three biggest fears― in no particular order― were failure, the dark, and rejection.

Merlin, he was screwed.

~*~

Will’s head hurt from thinking too much. No one had any classes today, and it was pouring rain outside, so he really should’ve been spending his time studying. Unfortunately, the words were blurring on the page and it took way too much energy to try to sort them out. He sighed, picking up his books and heading to the library. Maybe a change of scenery would be good for him. Leaving the Hufflepuff common room, he trudged through the castle halls, shivering at the cold. Rainy December days weren’t particularly pleasant. 

It turned out that a large portion of the school had congregated in the library, seeing as how they couldn’t spend the afternoon outside. Will looked around for a free seat when he heard his name called from behind him. He turned to see Jason Grace waving him over. Smiling gratefully, he made his way across the room, taking a seat with Jason’s group of friends. Jason sat with Percy and his girlfriend, a Ravenclaw named Annabeth. Much to Will’s relief, Nico was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, Will, what’ve you been up to?”

“Attempting to study. My brain’s about to explode.”

“Mine, too,” Percy grumbled.

“Percy, you haven’t even learned anything today. You can stop studying once you’ve actually benefitted from it,” Annabeth chastised, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

“Come on, just give us a quick break. Let’s play truth or dare or something.”

Annabeth sighed. “Fine. But you’re not sleeping tonight before you’re fully prepared for your next Charms class.”

Percy perked up immediately. “Alright, who wants to go first?”

“Go first at what?” came a familiar voice from behind Will. Will tensed.

Nico sat down in the seat farthest from Will’s not giving him a single glance, as he kept his eyes trained on Percy. “What’d I miss?”

“We’re starting a game of truth or dare,” Jason explained, glancing between Will and Nico not-so-subtly.

“Oh, hell no.” Nico shook his head. “That never ends well.”

“Aw, come on. It’ll be fun,” Percy insisted.

“Fine. I’ll play on one condition: No one asks any questions relating to sex alright?”

“Butㅡ”

“Percy, I refuse to play this game if you’re going to get all personal and graphic.”

“I agree,” Annabeth added.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. But you’re going first, Nico.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to. Truth or dare?”

Nico leaned back in his chair, rolling his eyes. “Dare.”

“Alright. I dare you to… go tap Reyna on the shoulder and not let her find out it was you.”

“Jason, I thought it was a given that we can’t dare each other to do anything life threatening,” Nico quipped.

“Besides, that’s a super lame dare,” Percy added.

“What, do you have a better idea?” Jason asked.

“I do, actually,” Percy said, turning to Nico. “I dare you to run out to the Great Lake and back.”

“You want me to get pneumonia?” Nico asked.

“Seriously, Percy, it’s raining really hard out there. That’s not very safe,” Annabeth reasoned.

Percy shrugged. “Well you don’t  _ have _ to take the dare…”

“No,” Nico interrupted. “I’ll do it.”

“Wait, really?” Will couldn’t help but blurt, breaking his streak of not speaking to Nico.

Nico met Will’s eyes, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, problem?”

“Nico, that’s really not very smart,” Annabeth protested.

“I’m not known for being smart, I’m known for being reckless,” Nico deadpanned, tapping the Gryffindor badge on his robes. “Watch over my books, will you?”

“Oh, I’ve gotta see this,” Percy said, standing up and following Nico out the door. Jason joined them.

Will met Annabeth’s eyes and she gave him a look.

“I’ll, er, go and make sure they don’t hurt themselves.”

“Please do.”

Will got up and hurried to follow them out.

Whereas the doors weren’t really open and welcoming for students to leave the building, there was no rule explicitly telling them they couldn’t. The staff had made the assumption that no one would be stupid enough to go outside in that weather.

“Alright, off you go,” Percy said, looking out the window at the heavy rain.

Nico smirked. “See you around.” He opened the door and started sprinting across the green, Jason and Percy whooping from behind him.

Will crossed his arms, biting his lip. Gryffindors were insane.

~*~

Will leaned against the stone wall, hardly listening to the conversation Jason and Percy were having with each other. He glanced up at the clock. Nico had been gone for a while.

“Don’t you think he should be back by now?” Will couldn’t help but ask, hoping he wasn’t being paranoid.

Jason frowned. “Yeah, he has been out there for a pretty long time.”

“You don’t think anything bad has happened to him, do you?” Percy asked, eyes widening slightly.

“What if he fell in the lake?” Jason wondered aloud.

“Dammit!” Percy pushed the door open. He took off running, Jason not far behind. Will took a deep breath and followed. 

It took them less than a minute to be fully soaked, and only another minute to be completely freezing. Will’s teeth chattered as he ran full speed down the hill, imagining various states Nico could be in. What if they were too late? What if he was at the bottom of the lake, already drowned?

When the lake came into view, Will picked up his speed, managing to go even faster. 

“Oh my God, I see him!” Percy called, his shout getting lost in the wind.

Will looked around wildly, his eyes spotting a figure sitting at the end of the dock under a roofed structure.  _ Thank God. _

As he got closer, he was able to see that, yes, it was Nico, butㅡ wait, was he  _ smirking? _

“You little shit!” Percy shouted as they finally came to a stop near Nico.

Nico was soaking wet but laughing his ass off, standing up.

“We were worried about you!” Jason cried out.

“And now you’re soaking wet,” Nico added, looking satisfied.

Will found that he was too relieved to be mad.

“Oh, come on, guys,” Nico laughed. “I didn’t want you all to miss out on such a beautiful day!” He walked backwards, stopping at the edge of the deck, his arms spread wide.

“You  _ jerk _ ,” Percy grumbled, giving Nico an annoyed push.

Percy’s eyes widened at the same time that Nico’s did as Nico tumbled off the edge of the dock into the churning water beneath him.

“ _ Nico! _ ” Percy cried out as he jumped in after him.

Will’s eyes widened. “What was he  _ thinking _ ? Now they’re both going to drown!”

Jason shook his head, shouting to be heard over the wind. “Percy’s a really good swimmer. I’m sure they’ll be fine,” he insisted, though he didn’t sound so sure.

Waiting was the worst part. The swirling water showed no sign of Percy or Nico surfacing. Will had to remind himself to breathe.

Will was about to run and get help when Percy’s head finally breached the rough surface of the lake. Will let out a breath of relief to see that Nico was in his arms.

Will rushed to help Jason pull Percy and Nico up onto the deck. 

“I think he hit his head on a rock or something,” Percy shouted.

Will laid Nico down on the dock, looking over the gash on his forehead. “He has a pulse,” he called out, “but he’s unconscious.”

“You know CPR, don’t you?” Jason asked desperately.

Will nodded. Unfortunately, he did. He began performing chest compressions while looking for signs of response from Nico. Nothing. His hands were shaking, not entirely happy with this arrangement. He’d spent more time than he’d care to admit imagining his first kiss with Nico, and this was terribly unromantic.

He tipped Nico’s head back, clearing his airway before pressing on his chest a few more times. Nico let out a strange cross between a gasp and a cough, but that was it. Will gulped.  _ Here goes nothing. _ He leaned down over Nico, about to pinch his nose shut and cover his mouth with his own when Nico coughed again, this time hacking up a large amount of water. Will jerked away, helping Nico turn over. “Yeah, get that all out of your system.” When Nico couldn’t cough up any more, Will rubbed his hand over his back in what he hoped was a soothing manner. “Deep breaths, okay?”

Nico nodded at Will, managing a hoarse, “Thanks.” He turned to Percy, glaring from beneath his wet mop of hair. “I hate you.”

~*~

They all agreed not to tell any teachers about their little excursion, and were able to convince Annabeth to keep quiet about it, too, by getting Percy to agree to study with her for the rest of the day.

Once Will had changed into a dry set of robes, he lay on his bed, allowing himself to process everything that had happened. He smiled at the memory of Nico thanking him. Nico hadn’t made eye contact since but that short moment was enough to keep Will smiling for a few hours. He’d worry about having an actual conversation with Nico later. For now, he needed sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dammit, Will, just ask him out already. Smh I'm frustrating myself here. Also, thank you guys for your house headcanons on the last chapter! I've made my final decisions on who's in which house, but I really appreciate you guys helping me out :)
> 
> Come say hi to me on tumblr! (@doctorsorders-deathboy)
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos make me smile*~
> 
> -Aspen


	3. Nico

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY, here's chapter three. I'm incredibly sorry that I didn't update last week and that this update is rather short. I don't have a very good excuse, but the good news is that I've admitted to my parents that I'm depressed so we're going to get me the help that I need so that hopefully this doesn't happen again. Also: I'm sorry if this chapter isn't up to par, I didn't have time to rewrite it at all, I only edited it, so I hope it turned out okay.

Nico had come to the decision that he was not going to leave his bed for a long, long time.

“Nico, it’s officially past noon,” came Jason’s voice from outside of Nico’s duvet. Nico had cocooned himself deep within the bed, facing a small gap between the mattress and the blanket so that he had access to the minimal amount of air necessary to breathe. “You’re going to get up now, either willingly or by force.”

Nico didn’t respond.

Jason sighed loudly enough for Nico to hear from beneath the pile of fabric, before stepping forward and attempting to pull off Nico’s bedspread.

Nico scowled, pulling his covers more tightly around himself so that Jason couldn’t take them away.

Jason groaned, sitting down beside the lump that was Nico di Angelo. “What are you doing anyways? You’re clearly not sleeping.”

“I’m hiding from my problems.”

Jason rolled his eyes, lying down and staring up at the canopy on Nico’s bed. “Hiding won’t help.”

“You got a better idea?”

Jason was silent for a moment. “Well I would suggest talking to me about them, but I know what your answer will be.”

“No.”

“Wow, look at that, Nico. I was right.” Jason stood up, shaking his head. “Fine, stay in bed all day if you want to. But I’m not letting you copy off my homework again. I mean it this time.”

Nico waited until he heard the door shut before letting his shoulders relax. Jason’s threat didn’t bother him, all he had to do was give Jason a desperate look at the beginning of class and he’d be fine. Well, except for his charms essay. But he couldn’t find it in himself to care anymore.

He wasn’t quite sure why he felt empty that day. He didn’t have any particular reason to feel sad  _ today _ rather than any other day. But he had a habit of pushing away all of his bad feelings in order to go about his routine without incident, only for it all to build up until he reached his breaking point. Today was that breaking point.

It was Nico’s firm philosophy that he needed to be sad every once in awhile. Maybe that came from living with his father’s beliefs while growing up, but Nico figured that if he never let himself just sulk for a bit, he’d be lying to himself, creating an illusion that his life was completely fine.

And that was bullshit.

One thing that Nico had a strong appreciation for was honesty. This also probably came from living with his father, who wasn’t the kindest soul, but was an extremely honest one. Nico didn’t like having unrealistic ideals or fantasies that were unlikely.

Maybe, it occurred to him, that was why he was so frustrated with the existence of Will Solace.

He groaned, shutting his eyes. Yesterday was still vivid in his mind. Almost drowning had not been a highlight, but opening his eyes to find Will’s face inches from his had probably been. Yeah. Yeah it had.

He couldn’t help but entertain the fantasy of what might’ve happened if he hadn’t hacked up a load of water at that moment. But that was the problem. He didn’t entertain fantasies. That wasn’t something he did. Why was Will Solace making him break so many of the rules he’d set for himself?

He finally tossed the covers off of his head so that he was only covered from the chest down and stared upwards, tracing the patterns on his bed’s canopy with his eyes. There were only five more days until winter break. Most of the students at Hogwarts were counting down those days excitedly, looking forward to getting two weeks of no classes. Nico, however, was hoping that those five days went slowly. He’d much rather be stuck in class than be stuck at home.

He’d stay at Hogwarts during Christmas if he could, but he always went home for Hazel. Beauxbatons didn’t allow students to stay there during break, and there was no way Nico was going to leave Hazel to stay at home with only Hades and Persephone for company.

The rain from the previous day had changed to snow, which slowly drifted down outside. If Nico was able to focus on the snowflakes, maybe he’d find it peaceful, but his focus seemed to center on the sky, which was a dull grey.

He closed his eyes again, wishing for more sleep so that he didn’t have to be conscious anymore.

~*~

Another class period with Will was the last straw. Nico was sick of waiting for something to happen.

He was going to  _ make  _ something happen, God damn it. Now he just had to figure out what that something was going to be.

“Jason?” Nico asked, looking up from the essay he was working on.

“Hm?” Jason replied, not looking up from his own paper.

Nico bit his lip for a few moments, trying to figure out what he wanted to ask. Luckily, Jason seemed to be in no rush to continue the conversation. “Do you want to take a short break? You’ve been working for a long time.”  _ Yep, make it look like this is about him and not you. He’ll absolutely buy that, nice going, Nico. _

Just as Nico suspected, Jason saw right through his ruse. Jason looked over at Nico, his brow furrowed. “Sure, you wanna go upstairs?”

Nico nodded.

There wasn’t anyone up in their room at this time of day. It wasn’t past curfew yet so most of the students were out in more public places to spend time with larger groups of their friends. Nico sat down on his bed, tugging on the ends of his sleeves. Jason sat down next to him with a sigh. “You ready to talk about the problems you were hiding from yesterday?"

“Only if you promise not to laugh.”

“I’m only going to laugh if you had a wet dream about Solace and are freaking out about it.”

Nico shoved him off of the bed entirely, but Jason was cracking up too much to care.

“You know what, fuck you. Nevermind.”

“No, no, no,” Jason insisted, climbing back up on the bed. “No, I’m sorry. I won’t tease you or laugh or anything. You can talk to me.”

“No, I should work on my essay anyways,” Nico said, standing up to leave. He should’ve known better than to ask Jason for advice.

“No, Nico,” Jason tried to stop him, grabbing Nico’s arm. “Please, I’m sorry.”

Nico rolled his eyes, pulling away.

“Wait,  _ is _ it about Will?”

“Fuck off.”

“Hey, if you talk to me about your crush, I’ll tell you about mine.”

Though Nico would never admit it, this made him stop. “You have a crush?”

Jason nodded. “I have for awhile.”

Nico frowned, leaning against the doorway. “Fine. But you go first.”

Jason grinned, patting the bed next to him for Nico to sit down. Contrary to popular belief, teenage girls were not the only ones who enjoyed talking about the people they were into. 

“Okay,” Nico said, acting bored with the conversation even though he was interested in what Jason would say. “What’s she like?”

“Um,” Jason started, looking out the window. “I’ve never really had a conversation with her, but whenever she speaks up in class she seems really smart. And Annabeth knows her, not really well or anything, but they’ve talked before or whatever, and Annabeth always says nice things about her.”

“So… you’ve basically got a crush on her solely on the fact that she’s nice for staring across the room at.”

Jason hit Nico with a pillow. “Shut up, as if that’s not how you and Will started out.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Alright, continue.”

“Uh, there isn’t much more to say.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Listen, if I’m asking for advice, then I’m giving some to you, too. Why haven’t you made an effort to talk to this girl yet? Does she have a boyfriend?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then what’s holding you back from wooing her with your bossiness and eternally crooked glasses?”

“How kind of you,” Jason grumbled, fixing his glasses subconsciously.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Jason shrugged. “I dunno, I’m nervous I guess.”

“Who is she?”

“I’m not telling.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “I’m not telling you anything unless I at least know the name of this girl. You haven’t told me anything interesting yet.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He met Nico’s eyes. “But no judging.”

“I’m not promising anything.”

Jason hit him again.

“I’m kidding, Jesus Christ, stop attacking me,” Nico said, unable to hold back a small smile. “Come on, tell me.”

Jason let out a breath. “Piper.”

“Wait, Piper  _ McLean _ ?”

Jason nodded, swallowing.

“Oh. Oh wow."

“Yeah.”

Neither of them voiced the real issue: that Piper was a Slytherin. And it wasn’t like relationships between Slytherins and Gryffindors had never happened before, but Nico knew that Jason’s father was a very proud Gryffindor who would probably have at least a few issues with his son dating a Slytherin pureblood.

“Okay. Um.”

“Your turn now.”

Nico managed a small laugh. His eyes focused on an area of wall behind Jason head before he started. “So. He knows that I like him. I mean, he’d be an idiot not to realize that, and I saw his face that day. He knows, but… I mean, he’s not doing anything about it. He’s pretending like it never happened.”

Jason’s brow furrowed in confusion. “And that’s… bad?”

“Um,  _ yeah _ ,” Nico said, looking at Jason incredulously. “This is driving me crazy! Listen, I fucked up, but I at least want to deal with the consequences. I’d much rather him just come up to me and tell me he’s not into me than have to constantly wonder what’s going on in his head.”

“Okay, Nico. One, your logic makes no sense whatsoever. You got off the hook, take advantage of that. And two, I mean, not to be harsh or anything, but Will’s straight. I don’t think going out of his way to tell you that he’s not into you is necessary.”

Nico sighed, closing his eyes and falling back on his bed. “I just want him to tell me  _ something _ , you know? I’m sick of wondering what he’s thinking about me. I want him to clear it all up so that there are no unanswered questions.”

Jason bit his lip. “Maybe  _ you  _ should do the clearing up.”

Nico looked over at Jason. “What?” he asked, bemused.

“Will might be feeling just as confused and awkward as you are. He  _ probably _ is. Instead of just waiting for him to do something, you should start that conversation. And if you make it an awkward mess, then at least you’ll have a clear idea of where you stand with each other.”

Nico groaned. “Or I could just hide in my bed again.”

Jason shrugged. “You could. But then you’d be stuck wondering.”

Nico shook his head. “I’ll just distract myself with the essay I’m supposed to be working on.” He left to go back down to the main common room, leaving Jason frowning on his bed.

~*~

When Nico woke up that night to find that his sheets were wet, he came to two conclusions.

One: There was no way Jason was finding out about this.

Two: He needed to work out this thing with Will or he was never sleeping again.

When he went down to breakfast, he didn’t even really have a plan. But he was going to talk to Will, Goddamn it. He needed to break the silence that had formed between them.

When he got to the Great Hall, he looked around for the familiar mop of blond hair. When he spotted it, he was surprised to find that Will was staring back.

As if by some unspoken agreement, they both started moving towards each other, though by the time they reached each other, neither of them were quite sure of what to say.

“Thank you,” Nico managed, “for… you know, the other day. I know I thanked you already but I wanted to thank you again because, I mean, I could’ve died so I’m just really grateful.” He hurriedly shut his mouth, knowing that he was rambling.

“Of course, yeah, no problem,” Will replied, maybe a little more quickly than was normal. He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but quickly closed it.

“Also,” Nico started, swallowing hard. “Um, I know this is really late, but I wanted to apologize about that day in Potions Class… with the Amortentia?”

Will’s eyes widened, clearly surprised that Nico was bringing it up, but nodded for him to continue.

“Er, yeah. That was just… I shouldn’t have… I mean, like, I didn’t know but… It’s just that…” Nico’s panic increased when he realized how warm his face felt.

“I smelled you, too,” Will blurted.

Nico froze, his blush increasing.

“I mean― Merlin, that sounds weird, I just meant that to me the potion smelled like you. Just like it smelled like me for you.”

It appeared that Nico’s speech had worsened further, as he now not only couldn’t form sentences but also couldn’t form words. He really wished his face would change to more natural color than bright red. Somehow, he managed a nod.

Will fiddled with his sleeves, fixing his eyes on a point just above Nico’s eyes. “Would you…” He cleared his throat. “Would you like to go out with me?” His voice was quiet and rushed but Nico heard him loud and clear.

“Yeah,” Nico said, finally managing to speak, but now fighting to keep a smile off of his face. “Sure.” He doubted he sounded as nonchalant as he hoped.

Will smiled brightly at him, not bothering to hide it at all. “Okay, um, I’ll see you later then?”

Nico nodded quickly before rushing back to his table, only to be met by Jason and Percy staring at him wide eyed.

“What happened? What did he say?”

“You look like a tomato, please tell me it’s in a good way.”

Nico cleared his throat, regaining a lot of his self control now that he was away from Will. “You were wrong,” he said, looking at Jason. “He’s definitely not straight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AGH I’M CRINGING FROM THE AWKWARDNESS. Hopefully the fact that they’re finally fucking together makes up for the fact that I was terrible about updating this. Again, I’m super sorry about that and I’m going to work really hard to make sure that doesn’t happen again. The sweet comments you guys always leave me mean a lot, though, and really motivate me to keep writing, so thank you :)
> 
> Also: I’m very sorry if you don’t headcanon Piper as a Slytherin, but that’s the house I’ve decided for her to be in for this fic.
> 
> In other news: iM SO EXCITED ABOUT THE TRIALS OF APOLLO OH MY GODS
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos make me smile*~
> 
> -Aspen


	4. Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is on the shorter side due to the fact that I spent a fair portion of the week dying over The Hidden Oracle (read: oh my fucking gods that book both gave me life and ripped it away someone help). Luckily, it's extremely fluffy, so I hope you all enjoy :)

In all honesty, the fact that they were now dating didn’t immediately relieve any stress from Will’s shoulders.

He went over to the Hufflepuff table, and it was only when he went to pick up his fork that he realized his hands were shaking.

He needed some time to process.

He couldn’t believe he’d actually done it. He’d actually asked Nico out, and even more unbelievably, Nico had said yes. The next time he saw Cecil and Lou Ellen, he’d be able to tell them that he hadn’t chickened out, that he’d actually gotten a date.

_ But what now? _

Will had never actually been in a relationship before, and admittedly had no idea what to do next. He’d put so much thought into actually asking Nico out that he hadn’t thought much about what he’d do if Nico agreed. He glanced over at the Gryffindor table and grinned to see Jason and Percy pestering an embarrassed Nico.

He was adorable when he blushed.

~*~

Much to Will’s relief, he had nothing to worry about as far as his relationship with Nico went. They quickly fell into an easy rhythm with each other. Their dynamic didn’t change much actually; they still bickered and teased one another, but there was something new about it that made it seem effortless. There was no longer any worrying about whether or not smiling and laughing too much around the other was okay. There was no longer an awkward barrier between them that restricted any form of physical contact. They ended up spending a lot of their free time in the library goofing off and studying with each other. Whereas Will excelled at Potions, Nico struggled, and Will was more than happy to help him understand what each component of a potion did to affect the final product.

Those evenings in the library, spent stooped over a table surrounded by books and illuminated by comfortable yellow lighting, quickly became Will’s favorite times of the day. He’d sit close enough to Nico so that their thighs and shoulders were touching, and was pleased to find that it wasn’t at all awkward. It was comfortable, happy, effortless.

Now that Will found himself able to be this close to Nico, to look at him without having to quickly look away, he found himself noticing many things he hadn’t before. He noticed the tiny mole on Nico’s jawline and the larger one high on the left side of his forehead. He noticed the small lock of hair towards the back of Nico’s head that stuck up endearingly whenever Nico had gone too long without patting it down. He noticed the way Nico’s sweater would hang off his chest ever so slightly when he leaned forward due to how thin he was. He tried very hard not to notice the delicate collar bone and slope of Nico’s chest beneath the sweater.

It was this rhythm, this routine of sharing space with Nico, of joking with him and getting to grin and blush around him without repercussions that suddenly made Will wish that Christmas break would never come.

On Friday night, the night before they would both get on the Hogwarts Express and head home for two weeks, Will had only been dating Nico for four days. Somehow being with Nico felt natural enough that that small number was surprising to Will. 

Will met up with Nico after dinner to say goodnight, but Nico only smirked and leaned up to Will’s ear.

“Meet me at the top of the West Tower,” he whispered, before pulling back with raised eyebrows as if daring Will to challenge him.

And Will was going to. He was going to tell Nico that his idea was stupid and dangerous and against the rules, but for some reason what actually came out of Will’s mouth was, “Okay.” Will was about to smack himself, but when Nico smiled at him, nodding with satisfaction, Will couldn’t help but feel like he’d made the right choice.

Unfortunately, it turned out that sneaking around Hogwarts after curfew was scarier than Will thought. Mainly because of the dark.  _ Damn it _ , honestly, how could it be this dark?

He got lost twice (it was difficult enough to navigate Hogwarts when he actually had light, let alone when his only source was his wand) but when he finally reached the West Tower, he felt a strong sense of accomplishment.

He walked outside to find Nico already waiting for him. Nico turned around to smile at him, his skin and hair illuminated from the moonlight and Will forgot to breathe for a moment.

“Took you long enough,” Nico teased.

Will rolled his eyes and moved over to sit next to Nico. “Somehow I keep getting involved in these crazy Gryffindor plans of yours. One of these days you’re gonna kill me, you know."

Nico’s expression darkened, but Will didn’t have time to say anything about it before Nico spoke again. “Ha ha. Forgive me for wanting to have a full conversation with you one more time before we leave.”

Worried that he’d said something wrong, Will hurried to lighten up the conversation. “Well danger and star gazing are both very romantic, so I suppose your plan isn’t so bad.”

Much to Will’s relief, his comment caused a small smile to grace Nico’s features. “Unfortunately, I didn’t account for the cold.” He shivered, burrowing deeper into his robes.

Will moved closer, wrapping his arms around Nico so that the brunet laid his head on Will’s shoulder. “At least it isn’t cold and rainy like it was last weekend. The sky’s actually clear tonight. We can see all of the stars.”

Nico gazed up at the sky, a content and relaxed expression on his face. “Yeah,” he whispered.

“I used to stargaze all the time,” Will commented. “My dad and I regularly did it when I was a kid. I didn’t understand most of what he told me when I was really little, I just liked doing it because it meant I got to stay up later. It wasn’t until I got a little older that I started to love learning all of the constellations.”

“So you’re a medical nerd  _ and  _ a space nerd?”

Will laughed. “Yet I’m not in Ravenclaw.”

“That’s because Ravenclaws are  _ wise _ , Will, which you are far from.”

Will shoved Nico slightly before pulling him right back into his arms, his heart stuttering when Nico hummed happily.

“Your turn,” Will announced. “Tell me something random about your childhood.”

Nico tensed, but his expression looked thoughtful, not closed off. “Um. Well, my sister and I used to sneak out onto the roof all the time, which is what inspired me to do this. We’d do it anytime we wanted to be alone. I mean, our house is really old and the roof is this wide expanse of sturdy old shingles. It wasn’t the safest thing but it sure was fun.”

Will smiled. “And you say you don’t belong in Gryffindor.”

Nico glared at him and Will made a resolution to not bring up Hogwarts houses for the rest of the evening.

“So you get along with your sister then?” Will asked, hurrying to change the subject. All Will knew about Nico’s sister was that she went to Beauxbatons and that Nico was the older one. Nico didn’t talk about his family much.

Nico paused for a moment, as if mulling over how to phrase his response. “Yes, Hazel and I are close. We kind of have to be considering we can’t stand our parents. But… Well the sister I used to go out on the roof with all the time, she was my older sister, Bianca. She died when I was ten.”

Oh. Will wasn’t sure how to respond. His instinct was to apologize, but he’d read in books that people who’d lost loved ones sometimes got annoyed by people apologizing for something they hadn’t been involved with. Will supposed that after hearing the same sentence over and over again it lost its meaning. “That must have been awful,” Will managed, trying to pour as much sympathy into the words as he could.

Nico smiled sadly at him, the moonlight lighting up his chocolate colored eyes. “It was. I’m just thankful Hazel came along.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “Was she adopted or something?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Not exactly. When my father was younger, he… Well, he wasn’t one to settle down. He married my mother, and Bianca and I were born. Unbeknownst to us, he also had an affair with Hazel’s mother. After my mom died, he remarried my stepmom, Persephone, and then after Hazel’s mom died, he took Hazel in.” Nico grimaced. “Having him explain exactly where Hazel had come from to Persephone and me was not a fun conversation.”

“Oh.”

Nico laughed. “I assure you, Hades was not the first di Angelo to complicate the family tree. For purebloods, we don’t have a very honorable history.”

Will tried to stifle his laugh, though it didn’t work very well.

Nico tilted his head to the side, looking up at the moon. “I think that might actually be one of the reasons he didn’t kick me out of the house when I came out. I think that deep down he thinks that me being gay is less damaging to the family name than me knocking up a bunch of girls and being left to assess the damage.”

Will fought back a blush at how blunt Nico was.  _ Merlin, I’m such a virgin. _ “I’m surprised you came out to him at all. I mean, if he’s as strict as you say, I know I wouldn’t have had the guts to do it. Hell, I bet my parents would be pretty accepting and I know most of the students here don’t care, yet I couldn’t even come out then. Well, everyone knows now, but…”

Nico frowned. “No one’s said anything to you, right? I’ll kick their ass if they do.”

Will smiled, shaking his head. “No. I’ve gotten a few looks like, I think some people were wondering if me being gay was news or if they just hadn’t known.” He shrugged. “Luckily, I’m not the most interesting person to gossip about.”

Nico relaxed a bit, leaning back. “Good. And I don’t think I deserve much credit for being brave enough to come out. Honestly, I largely did it to piss my dad off.” Nico bit his lip before continuing. “I think a part of me was hoping he’d kick me out for it.”

Will raised his eyebrows.

Nico shrugged. “I think he stopped having expectations for me when I got sorted into Gryffindor. After he got over that and decided he’d still raise me in his house, he just stopped caring for the most part. I could probably go and murder a town of people and he’d just think, ‘Well, looks like Nico failed at existing as a living being again.’”

Will didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t think a, ‘That must be awful,’ would cut it in this situation.

Nico barked a laugh suddenly, but it came out bitter. “Sorry. Way to kill the mood, huh?”

Will shook his head. “No, don’t worry about it. I was the one asking you so many questions. Besides, you should get the chance to talk about that stuff sometimes.”

Nico shivered, maybe from the cold, maybe not. “Thanks. For listening.”

Will nodded, allowing himself to kiss the crown of Nico’s head. “Anytime.”

They sat there until Nico was falling asleep, at which point Will hauled him up. “Come on, time to get to bed.”

Nico sighed. “Fine.” It wasn’t until Nico’s eyes drifted up and met Will’s that Will realized how close they were standing.

Nico was still leaning against Will from exhaustion which left little to no space between them. Their chests were pressed together which left their faces only inches apart. Starlight highlighted Nico’s features― his cheekbones, his nose, his jawline. His eyes were wide and deep and his lips were parted, small clouds of breath forming in the freezing air.

Will allowed himself to fall forward a bit so that their foreheads rested against each other and their clouds of breath intermingled. “I’m going to miss you,” he whispered.

Nico’s hand drifted up so that his thumb rubbed along Will’s cheekbone. “I’m going to miss you, too.”

There was no moment when either of them made the decision. Will didn’t feel like it was a decision at all. It was just what was meant to happen.

Nico’s lips were shockingly warm. They moved softly, pressing gently. Will pressed back, tilting his head to the side and gasping when he felt the heat shoot down through him. The wind picked up, sweeping cold air around the two of them. Nico’s hands rested on Will’s face, cold as ice, and the air bit at Will’s skin, but Will felt so, so warm. He wished he could live in that moment forever.

Nico pulled back, panting softly, still tracing Will’s features with his fingertips. “I really don’t want to go back in now.”

Will chuckled, smiling warmly. “Me neither.”

They stood there for a few more minutes, content with the warmth of each other’s arms and lips. Snowflakes began to fall around them, twisting and twirling on the wind until they faded into oblivion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeyy! Enjoy the fluff while it lasts, this thing called plot is about to kick in and it won't be as pretty.
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos make me smile*~
> 
> -Aspen


	5. Nico

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super sorry this is a day late, I tried uploading this yesterday but my wifi wasn't working right and I couldn't get it to upload, unfortunately. 
> 
> I'm also sorry I didn't respond to any of the comments you guys left me last week-- they all made me smile, though, so honestly thank you so much to anyone who left one, they mean a lot.
> 
> But ayy, it's time for plot to kick in, so enjoy :)

Nico had never been a fan of big cities. He preferred rural seclusion, being surrounded by forests and fields and wide open air. Being stuck in a space surrounded by tall buildings blocking out the sky, muggle cars honking and zooming around, and an overwhelming amount of people was not his cup of tea.

So he did his best to make the most of the views of the countryside before being surrounded by the chaos of King’s Cross station. He’d always enjoyed riding the Hogwarts Express, actually. From his first time, there had been something peaceful about it that he liked. Besides, at the moment the ride meant prolonging his inevitable arrival at his family’s manor.

He glanced away from the window and over towards the sleeping form of Will Solace who lay on the seat across from him. He allowed himself a smile at seeing his boyfriend so at peace.  _ Boyfriend. _ Yep, he still wasn’t used to that word.

They’d spent the first portion of the ride chatting and snacking but whereas the train ride simply put Nico at peace, it put Will to sleep. Nico gently reached out and pushed a stray curl from Will’s forehead.

He froze when Will stirred, worried he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to, but then Will just smiled lazily and mumbled something in his sleep before settling down again. Nico grinned, poking the bridge of Will’s nose where it always crinkled when he smiled. Leaning back, Nico looked out the window again, watching a huge field that went all the way out to the horizon go by. A part of him wished that he could just jump out of the train and run all the way to the edge where the sky met the earth and see what lay there. He glanced back at Will once more and decided that he wanted Will to run with him.

~*~

They arrived at King’s Cross too soon in Nico’s opinion, and he found himself standing on the busy platform, saying goodbye to Will for the last time before break.

“You’ll write, yeah?” Will asked.

“Maybe if you’re lucky.”

Will rolled his eyes and pulled Nico in for a hug. Nico relaxed into it immediately, which surprised him.

“Don’t murder anyone while I’m gone,” Will quipped.

“Of course not, I wouldn’t let you miss out on something fun like that.”

“Alright, Death Boy.”

“Do not call me that.”

“Only on special occasions.” Will smiled at him, before getting distracted by something behind Nico. “Oh, my parents are here. Wanna come say hi?”

Nico’s eyes widened and he shook his head quickly, making Will laugh.

“Alright, maybe another time. Bye, Nico.”

“Bye, Will.”

Will hesitated for a moment, as if he were about to lean in, but upon seeing his parents again he decided against it, frowning. “See you next year!” He quickly placed a grin back on his face, and then he was gone, weaving his way through the crowd of people.

Nico took a deep breath. He’d said goodbye to all of his other friends earlier, which meant he didn’t have any more excuses to stick around. He sighed, turning and heading in the direction of where the chauffeur his father would have sent to pick him up would be.

He searched the crowd for someone, most likely wearing black and with a sour expression on their face, holding a sign that read  _ Di Angelo _ . He was horrified to spot someone he recognized, who was indeed wearing all black and a sour expression, but didn’t need to a hold a sign for Nico to know why he was here.

Hades stood out as a stark contrast to everyone else in the station. Amongst chattering families and friends joking together before saying their goodbyes, Nico’s father stood alone, frowning and solemn. It was clear that he was not very happy to be here.

Nico swallowed hard. His father never came out to meet him. He didn’t particularly want to imagine why his father had come this time.

Hades watched as Nico approached him, not speaking or showing any expression other than his default distaste with the world.

“Who was that boy you were hugging?” Hades asked by way of greeting. His tone did nothing to hint at how he currently felt about the situation.

“A friend,” Nico said coldly. 

Hades raised an eyebrow, allowing a hint of emotion to become present in his features. “A  _ boy _ friend?”

Nico frowned at him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I came to pick you up myself. Your train was a bit late and we can’t waste any more time. Come. There’s something important I need to speak to you about.” Hades began to walk away, leaving Nico with no choice but to follow.

“Well I’m not having a proper conversation with you until I have one with Hazel so I suppose you’ll just have to wait.”

“Your sister isn’t coming home for Christmas this year,” Hades said in an exasperated tone. “Or had you forgotten?”

“Wait, what do you mean she isn’t coming home?”

Hades glanced down at his son. “Didn’t you get a letter from her?”

“Um,  _ no _ .”

Hades shrugged, looking away. “Well I don’t know why you wouldn’t have gotten one. But yes, she’s spending Christmas at a friend’s home this year. Lovely pureblood family in France. I met the parents once a long time ago, and it would appear Hazel’s become friends with their daughter.”

Nico clenched his fists. “How am I only finding out about this  _ now _ ?” he asked incredulously.

“Again, I don’t know,” Hades said impatiently, coming to a stop. “Here, grab on.” He held out his arm for Nico, clearly uncomfortable in doing so.

Nico grudgingly did as he was told. He opened his mouth to argue once more, but Hades quickly apparated them out of the station.

When Nico regained footing on solid ground, he found himself in his father’s study. “Alright, what was so important that you had to come get me yourself?” He gave up on pushing the issue about Hazel. He’d give her a hard time about that later.

Hades cleared his throat, gesturing for Nico to sit down. He took a seat behind his large wooden desk and folded his hands in front of him. “Have you been reading the news recently, Nico?”

Nico shrugged. “I’ve been reading the headlines.”

Hades nodded. “Then you understand that the Wizarding World is not in an ideal state.”

“I’d say that’s a bit of an understatement,” Nico grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Groups have been forming, Nico. You could call them cults or gangs, I suppose, due to how dangerous they are. Tensions are rising and people are being forced to choose sides. I wanted to speak with you today because I need to warn you. There will come a time when you are going to have to make a decision on where you stand. I fear it won’t be easy for you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nico. You are an intelligent young man. I trust you to make the right choice when it comes, but I want to be clear on this: making the wrong move during a time like this could prove fatal, not just to your own life, but to the fate of the Wizarding World.”

Nico swallowed. If Hades had resorted to compliments, then Nico must have completely misread the situation. His father wasn’t just worried or frustrated. He was getting desperate.

“So you’re saying that if I choose to support people who you don’t agree with, my side might win and you’ll be left in your oversized mansion alone with your deep hatred for the universe and your stuck up wife.”

Hades’ hands clasped together until his knuckles turned white. “This is not the time for your jokes, Nico. We have had our differences. More than I care to recall, in all honesty. But ultimately, here we are. Despite previous events, I am still raising you in my home because you are still family, Nico. You might not care to admit it, but we have the same blood. We might not normally get along, but it’s important to come together now. The situation has grown serious and I ask you to put aside any resent you may hold towards me so that you are able to see reason.”

Nico frowned, meeting his father’s eyes. “What on earth is reasonable,” he asked in a low tone that forced Hades to listen carefully, “about mistreating a large portion of the wizarding population based on the way they were born?”

Hades’ frown set deeper into his features. “They are trying to act like they are the same as any of us, Nico. But that’s the not the way things work. They were born freaks, yet they try to ignore that fact. They are in complete denial of the reality of their situation. They have shown that they are unable to see reason.”

Nico slammed his hand down on the desk. “ _ They _ can’t see reason? Father, they are still wizards. They still have abilities. And their abilities are not somehow lesser than ours. For the love of Merlin, get over yourself. You may be entirely wizard, but you continue to prove that you’re not at all human.”

Hades shot up from the table. “Stop being so stubborn! After everything I’ve done for you, you continue to act as if―”

“What do you mean, ‘after everything you’ve done for me?’ All you’ve done is continuously remind me that I’m a failure and your least favorite child. You think I don’t remember all that stuff you screamed at me after Bianca died? Oh no, don’t you give me that look, I’m allowed to talk about her.” Nico was standing up now, too, screaming at Hades across the desk. “I don’t care if you’ve fed me for the last sixteen years of my life, I’d rather be on the streets than have to listen to you tell me how you wished it was me instead of Bianca that―”

“The past is in the past so I suggest you stop bringing it up.”

“Stop saying that! You can’t just keep―”

“Nico. Stop.”

“No! You stop playing innocent! It’s not my fault that I’m different from you! I didn’t choose to be gay, I didn’t choose to be a Gryffindor, I didn’t choose to be raised by a father who thinks I’m a nuisance more than anything, so stop blaming me for things I can’t control!”

“Nico―”

“Stop making me feel like I’m such a disappointment that I’m just lucky to still be living under this roof, because guess what? I don’t feel lucky to be here at all. I―”

“Well if you don’t want to be a disappointment, Nico, then stop being one.”

Nico froze.

There it was again.

Nico had heard that line before. He’d heard it plenty of times. It was one of Hades’ favorite one-liners to go back to. But there was something about that one that stung more than the others.

He took a shaky breath, steadying his voice. “I learned the hard way that I’m never going to stop being a disappointment to you. I just wish I could stop being your son.”

Nico didn’t give Hades a chance to respond. He was already out of the room.

~*~

Nico slammed the door to his room behind him. His trunks were stacked neatly next to his bed, where they must have been placed by one of the family servants who picked them up from the train station. Nico was still shaking from head to toe with rage, and kicked the wall in an attempt to alleviate some of the emotion.

It didn’t work.

Nico stood, trying to take deep breaths to calm down but was interrupted by a loud thump on his window. He turned around to see an old owl peering into his room holding a letter in his beak. Nico quickly unlatched the window and opened the envelope to find a note written in Hazel’s script.

_ Dear Nico, _

_ I hope you get this letter in time. I’m afraid I couldn’t find a very good owl on such short notice during the holiday season, but I wanted to warn you that I won’t be home for Christmas this year. I’m staying with Frank’s family, though Hades thinks I’m staying with one of my friends from school. I rarely get to see Frank, and if I’m honest, I’m also glad I don’t have to go home for two weeks. If this letter reaches you in time, then feel free to stay at Hogwarts during break without Hades on your case. If it doesn’t reach you in time, then I’m incredibly sorry. Hang in there, it’s only a couple weeks. Merry Christmas, I hope you’re well. _

_ With love, _

_ Hazel _

Nico crumbled the paper into a ball and threw it in his wastebasket before collapsing onto his bed. This wasn’t fair. None of this was fair at all.

Nico’s words from earlier still echoed in his mind.  _ I don’t care if you’ve fed me for the last sixteen years of my life, I’d rather be on the streets. _

Nico looked out the window at the lightly falling snow. He nodded decisively, having come to a decision.

He was going to stick to his word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. Yay plot.
> 
> Comments and kudos make me v v happy and tend to make me more prone to write fluff *cough*
> 
> I hope you've all had a good week!
> 
> -Aspen


	6. Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is a day late again, I have exams this week and was busy studying yesterday so I didn't get around to uploading. I probably could've uploaded yesterday but the chapter would've been a lot shorter and unpolished. I figured it'd be better to wait a day and give you guys a better quality update. The good news is that school's almost out, which means I'll have way more time to write and my day-late-updates shouldn't be an issue anymore.

_“Yes!”_ Lou Ellen shrieked, falling back onto Will’s bed. Will was grinning ear to ear, incredibly pleased with himself.

Cecil was laughing. “So how awkward was it?”

“Extremely. But he said yes!”

“I can’t believe you actually worked up the nerve to ask him out,” Lou Ellen said, shaking her head and smiling.

“Neither can I, honestly,” Will replied.

“So you’re out to the school then?” Cecil asked.

Will nodded, biting his lip. “I guess so, but I lucked out. Turns out any gossip involving me isn’t all that interesting.”

Lou Ellen rolled her eyes. “Prissy private school kids,” she muttered.

Will’s friends were under the impression that Will went to a strict boarding school each year. According to the story Will’s parents had made up for him, the school didn’t allow students to have personal electronic devices because they didn’t want any of the kids to get into social media scandals and damage the school’s reputation. Lou Ellen and Cecil insisted on writing letters back and forth anyways. The owls at Hogwarts frequently picked up and dropped off letters at muggle post offices so that the students could communicate with their muggle friends.

“What about your parents?” Cecil inquired. “Are you out to them yet?”

Will frowned, shaking his head. “No, I just haven’t really found a good time to tell them. Then again, I was only home for a few hours before you guys invited yourselves over.”

Lou Ellen shrugged. “Well, you love us so we figured we’d grace you with our presence.”

“And also harass you about Nico,” Cecil added.

“Yes, also that.”

Will sighed. “Well as much as I appreciate you guys giving me a hard time, I’m pretty exhausted. Could you grace me with your presence tomorrow instead?”

“If you insist.” Lou Ellen got off of Will’s bed and gave him a big hug. “I’m glad you’re back.”

Will smiled. “Me too.”

~*~

Will spent most of the rest of his day watching television. As wonderful as Hogwarts was, he really did miss technology while he was there. After a nice dinner with his parents, in which he wasn’t able to work up the nerve to come out, he returned to his room to find an owl insistently pecking on the glass. Will’s eyes widened as he hurried to let the bird in, worried that he’d made her wait for too long.

The owl dropped the letter it was carrying onto Will’s bed and flew back out the window in an instant, leaving Will with an envelope and a cold draft coming into his room. He latched his window and went to sit down, examining the envelope as he did so. Nothing about it gave any indication as to what was inside. The only writing on it was _Will Solace_ in a script that looked familiar but Will couldn’t quite put his finger on. Frowning, Will opened it up and began to read.

_Dear Will,_

_I’m writing to you from a cab that’s taking me far from my home. I suggest you find a similar cab as soon as you can. Somehow, a prominent leader in an anti-muggleborn gang (whose name I do not know) has gotten school records from Hogwarts and has started targeting specific muggleborn students. I’m sending out warnings to any other muggleborns I know, and I ask you to do the same. The gang hasn’t targeted me yet as far as I know, but I don’t know who’s next._

_I was warned by a seventh year muggleborn who has a parent that works at the Ministry and was able to find out about this before it hit the news. According to the seventh year (whose name I won’t disclose in case this letter ends up in the wrong hands), there are groups of muggleborns that are gathering. I suggest you find one to stay safe. If you stay at your home, it will be too easy for the gang to find you. I trust that you’re smart enough to find a safe place to stay. I’d tell you more but if this letter doesn’t end up with you, I don’t want it to include anything that others could use against us. Stay safe._

_Sincerely,_

_Annabeth_

Will tried to swallow but found that he couldn’t. By the end of the letter, his hands were shaking hard enough to make it difficult to make out the words, but he got the message loud and clear. This wasn’t a rumor, this wasn’t a news article. This was a very real thing that was happening to him _right now_ . His mind was spinning too much to think, so Will did the first thing popped into his mind. _Pack._

He grabbed an old rucksack of his and rushed around his room, grabbing any necessities he could think of. He was suddenly unbelievably grateful for his ability to act under pressure.

Once he’d closed up his bag, he left a quick note on his desk to his parents giving them the gist of what was happening. Whereas he did have to leave out a lot of details, he didn’t sugarcoat it for them. They deserved to know.

Looking around his room one last time, Will took a deep breath. This was it. His life was never going to be the same now. No matter what happened next, he could never go back to living the way he had before getting that letter.

He tiptoed down the stairs and through the short hall that led to his front door. He stopped to pull a small family portrait from the wall. A clean white envelope was taped to the back. It was filled with a fair amount of cash that was meant for emergencies. Tucking it into his rucksack, Will paused at hearing his parents’ voices from the kitchen. He took a shaky breath, but didn’t go to say good bye. He didn’t have time to explain this to them and, if he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if he’d have the willpower to leave if he saw their faces one more time.

Giving a final, decisive nod, Will slipped out his front door as quietly as he could, before taking off down the street. He ran as fast as he could, hoping that keeping himself out of breath would keep himself from crying. He gripped his wand tightly in his hand, not bothering to keep it out of sight. He had more important things to be worrying about.

After running for a few blocks, he waved down a cab to take him the rest of the way. He shivered in the back seat of the car, pulling his coat tighter around him as he watched the buildings pass by. He needed to find a motel, he decided. He’d find a place to crash for the night and then he’d look for some other muggleborn runaways tomorrow. At the moment, he was too exhausted to do any extensive searching, besides the fact that he was desperate to be alone for a bit.

The cab dropped him off at a muggle hotel (he figured staying away from magic would be his safest bet for now) where he got a room for the night. He had admittedly been unsure whether or not he’d be able to get a room, but he’d hadn’t chosen the classiest place, largely for monetary reasons, and the person behind the front desk seemed utterly bored with his job and entirely uncaring that Will looked like a minor. Then again, Nico _was_ always making fun of him for how tall he was.

Will’s heart clenched at the thought of him. He’d have to write to him soon to let him know where he’d gone. He normally avoided the topic of muggleborn discrimination around Nico because he was worried that he might make Nico feel guilty about being pureblood, but there wasn’t any way they could avoid the conversation anymore. Things were changing too fast for Will to keep up with.

Will’s room was shabby, as expected, but he’d never been more relieved to fall into such a creaky bed. The mattress dipped in the middle and Will could feel some of the springs poking him, but Will pulled up the covers around himself and let out a long breath. When he breathed back in, tears were falling down his face, and he let himself cry until he couldn’t anymore. He fell asleep in the same clothes he’d worn on the train ride that day with his wand held in his hand.

~*~

Much to Will’s surprise, he actually slept pretty well that night. He fell asleep immediately and slept for a good twelve hours before he blearily opened his eyes to see sunlight falling into his room. Groaning, he sat up from the uncomfortable mattress, wincing at how stiff he was. He took his time taking a deep breath and letting it out. He’d had plenty of time to freak out last night. Now it was time to focus.

He took a quick shower and changed into the one other set of clothes he’d brought with him before checking out of the hotel. He got a cab and gave directions to a place he really didn’t want to go, but knew he had to. It was time to go back to the Wizarding World.

He slipped into the Leaky Cauldron as inconspicuously as he could, taking a seat back in a corner of the pub. He pulled out a notebook and pen he’d brought with him to compose a letter back to Annabeth, thanking her for the warning. About halfway through, he contemplated whether or not he should ask for help finding some muggleborns to stay with. She’d said he was smart enough to find them on his own but he was pretty sure she was giving him more credit than he deserved. Finally, he settled on asking if she could just give him a hint. He wasn’t entirely sure where to start.

He folded up his finished letter and went to put his notebook away before considering sending a letter to someone else. _Nico._

Will swallowed, remembering the question he’d asked Nico at King’s Cross.

_“You’ll write, yeah?”_

_“Maybe if you’re lucky.”_

Will knew that he really should let Nico know what was happening, but he didn’t know how to tell him. How do you send a letter like that? How do you deliver news like that without making the person worry?

Will was startled out of his thoughts by an owl landing on his table, making him jump. After a short moment of panic that he’d gotten another note with bad news, Will let out a breath to see that it was only the newspaper. He paid the owl, and it occurred to him that whereas he had plenty of muggle money, he didn’t have much of the wizarding currency. Upon looking at the newspaper, dread settled in his stomach again.

Front page. Full article. There it was.

Will swallowed hard, skimming the paragraphs. It essentially described what Annabeth had written to him about the previous night, but there was one new bit of information.

_Death Eaters._

Will took a shaky breath. Those were the people after him. He recalled the way he’d called Nico “Death Boy” the day before and suddenly didn’t find the nickname to be as nice.

The article went on to describe the first two victims the Death Eaters had killed. They both went to Hogwarts, of course, but Will only recognized one of the names. He didn’t realize his hands were shaking until he went to set down the newspaper so that he could lean back and close his eyes. He’d _known_ that kid. Charles Beckendorf had been popular at Hogwarts, but not because he was snotty or rich. He was what popular _should_ be, he was friendly and funny and people enjoyed being around him. And now he was dead.

Will pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on top and staring down at the headlines, allowing himself to become mesmerized watching the moving pictures.

“Hey,” said a voice behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Will was on his feet in an instant, wand out and eyes wild.

“Will! It’s okay, it’s just me.” Annabeth put her hands up in a placating gesture.

Will let out a breath, closing his eyes. “Thank Merlin,” he rasped, surprised by how hoarse his voice sounded.

“Hey,” Annabeth said gently, pulling him into a hug. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m here now, we’re safe.”

Will shook his head as it rested on her shoulder. “No we’re not. There’s no way we can be safe anymore.”

Annabeth didn’t say anything, just kept rubbing his back.

“So have you found people to stay with?” Will asked after a few moments of silence.

Annabeth nodded, pulling back. “Yes. We should probably get going, actually. This is too out in the open.”

Will nodded mutely, not having enough energy to make conversation anymore. “Lead the way.”

Annabeth gave him a sad smile and led him out of the pub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oml, plot is stressful.
> 
> Important question: are there any other characters you guys would like to see appear in this story? I have plans for the rest of the seven and Reyna (plus a few others) but if there are specific characters you'd like to see make an appearance, let me know bc I'm currently mapping out exactly where this fic is going. I might not use all suggestions, but I'll take them into consideration :)
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos make me smile*~
> 
> -Aspen


	7. Nico

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I finally managed to update this on time! *throws confetti* School's almost out too so soon I'll have more time to write which means chapters in this fic should be getting longer and I'll be writing more oneshots, too.

Nico had admittedly considered and planned running away numerous times in the past. Now that he actually intended to go through with it, he was more than prepared.

He slipped out of the house in record time with a bag on his back and his wand in hand, setting off for his first destination. He had multiple places he planned to go, but the first was one that he saw fit to prioritize.

The sun was just beginning to set and Nico smiled, knowing that he’d soon be cloaked in darkness. He decided to walk for a bit, not in much of a rush to get where he needed to go. Besides, he always thought better when he was moving his legs and he could definitely use some time to sort out his thoughts.

He wandered in what he was pretty sure was the vague direction of the address he needed to get to, not caring all that much if he was wrong. Right now he was walking with more of the intention to wander than to get anywhere.

Once the sun had finished setting, Nico continued to walk for a while before his legs got tired and he stopped, raising his wand into the air. Within a few moments, the Knight Bus came roaring up the street, stopping abruptly in front of Nico. He smiled as he boarded, already rehearsing exactly what he wanted to say to his sister.

Nico hadn’t had to dig around in Hazel’s room for very long before finding Frank Zhang’s address. The two of them regularly corresponded and Frank’s address was neatly printed on a scrap of parchment in one of Hazel’s desk drawers. Nico figured she’d memorized the address by now but just never bothered throwing the paper away, so he went ahead and took it with him. Even if she still did need it for whatever reason, Nico couldn’t bring himself to feel sorry for her, not when he was too busy planning out exactly how he was going to berate her for abandoning him.

The Zhangs lived relatively far from London, though it was still in southern England so the trip didn’t take that long, especially on the Knight Bus. Nico considered sleeping, but knew he wouldn’t be able to get any rest even if he tried so he decided not to bother. He instead spent the ride staring out the window, wide awake. He figured he was running mainly on adrenaline at the moment, and soon he’d crash, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

At maybe two or three in the morning, the bus screeched to a halt in front of a nice little home in a neat suburban neighborhood. Nico hopped off, facing the house. He was about to turn around and thank the staff on the bus for the ride, but the bus was already speeding away. He let out a breath. He suddenly felt very tired.

After just sort of standing there for a few minutes, sleepily trying to gather his thoughts, he shuffled around to the back of the house, where he promptly lay down in the grass and passed out cold. It was too late to knock on the door and ask to see Hazel and he wasn’t thinking straight enough to carry on a conversation anyways, so for now he let himself sleep.

~*~

Nico woke to a very loud, “What the hell?” being yelled above him. He scowled, scrunching up his face in annoyance and curling up further. It was too early for people to be screaming at him. “Wake the hell up!” A foot started kicking at Nico’s side rather aggressively and Nico grumbled, cracking an eye open. Where _was_ he?

“Dad, stop!” came another voice, one that Nico actually recognized. The kicking stopped as the voice continued, “I know him.”

“Well why the hell is he on our lawn, Frank?”

“Nico!” shouted a third voice, one that Nico knew _very_ well. His eyes were open in an instant as he attempted to sit up before he was tackled with a hug. “What are you doing here?” Hazel asked as she just about broke his ribs before releasing her hold on him. She pulled back, giving Nico’s eyes the opportunity to focus on her.

She didn’t look all that different from the last time they’d seen each other, which had been back in the summer before school started. Her hair was slightly longer and a few of her features appeared older, but she was still the same old Hazel. “I told you to stay at Hogwarts, did something happen?”

“Yeah,” Nico said, straight into the speech he’d prepared for her. “I didn’t get the memo until I got home.”

“Oh, Nico, I’m so sorry.”

“Save it. Hades and I apparently couldn’t handle a day together so I left.” He felt a sick satisfaction at Hazel’s guilty expression. She felt bad. Good.

A tall, muscled man who stood behind Hazel let out a long breath, running a hand over his face. “You know what? It’s too damn early for this. Frank, next time let me know if you’re going to have any more of your friends randomly show up at our house. For the love of Merlin―” He made his way back into the house, grumbling along the way.

Frank stood wide eyed in the grass, still wearing his pajamas and visibly shivering.

“We should get inside,” Hazel said, helping Nico to stand up. “How did you not freeze overnight? It’s so cold out.”

Nico shrugged. Temperature had never bothered him that much, but still, he felt colder than he ever had. He figured he must’ve gotten used to cold overnight or something and just become numb to it.

“Nico, you probably went and got yourself sick. Why didn’t you just knock and ask for us to let you in, you idiot?”

“You were sleeping,” Nico mumbled, though he knew his argument was stupid. He hadn’t been thinking straight last night. He probably still wasn’t.

Hazel sighed. “Come on.” She led him inside with Frank following close behind. “Frank, could you go get some clothes for Nico to borrow?”

Frank gave her a small smile. “Sure.”

Hazel led Nico into a room that Nico assumed she’d been sleeping in. “Wait here.” She returned shortly with a towel and Frank, who was carrying a small stack of clothes. She shoved Nico into the bathroom with the towel and outfit. “Dry yourself off and get changed.” There wasn’t any room for argument.

Nico left the outfit Frank had lent him on the counter and changed into clothes that he’d brought in his bag, knowing that Frank was multiple sizes larger than him. As he changed, he heard Hazel and Frank conversing in the next room, but their voices were too low for him to make out. He frowned. He hadn’t thought this far into his conversation with Hazel. He figured he’d just yell at her, then tell her he still loved her and everything even though he was mad, and then he’d leave. Apparently Hazel wasn’t ready to see him go yet.

When he came out of the bathroom, Frank had left and Hazel was sitting on the bed, fiddling with her hands. She looked up Nico, visibly worried.

Nico went to sit next to her. “So is Frank’s dad always like that?” he asked, trying to make easy conversation.

Hazel scoffed. “Oh, no. That was extremely tame of him. You’re lucky he was still half asleep.”

Nico laughed lightly at that, but they could both tell it was forced.

“What happened with _our_ dad?” Hazel asked softly, chewing on her lip.

Nico sighed. He didn’t want to talk about this. “He was an asshole. I told him I didn’t put up with assholes. We yelled some more. Then I left.”

“Oh, Nico.”

“Hazel, I love you, I really do, but please shut up.” Nico sneezed, earning a sigh from Hazel.

“See, Nico, I knew you’d catch a cold. Come on, get into bed.”

Nico decided not to argue, knowing that Hazel was right. Besides, he was sleepy and cold and really just wanted to close his eyes and not have to face the world anymore.

“Sleep,” Hazel ordered, though her tone was soft. “We’ll talk more when you wake up.”

Nico probably would’ve argued just for the sake of arguing but he was already asleep.

~*~

When he woke up, there was no one in the room, so he padded downstairs where he found Hazel and Frank sitting in the living room. The room was cozy due to the wood burning in the fireplace and the comfy couches that took up most of the floor space. Snow fell softly outside the window, only to melt as soon as it touched the ground.

Hazel smiled when she spotted Nico in the doorway. “You’re awake.”

Nico only nodded, sitting down on the couch across from them. “I am.”

Frank and Hazel looked at each other, seemingly having a discussion with their eyes, leaving Nico feeling like a third wheel. Frank and Hazel just looked so comfortable with each other, and Nico found himself wishing Will was there. It’d be okay, though, he’d see Will soon enough.

“So what are you planning on doing now?” Hazel finally asked, furrowing her brow in concern.

“I’m going to go see some more people. Make my way around. By the time Christmas break is over, I’ll be ready to go back to Hogwarts. I don’t know what I’ll do next summer yet, but I’ll have it figured out by then. I only have one more year left at Hogwarts anyways.” He sneezed and Frank pushed a box of tissues towards him.

“Have you…” Frank cleared his throat. “Have you seen the news yet?”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “No?”

Frank and Hazel shared a look again before passing him a newspaper. Nico looked at the headlines and his stomach dropped.

“Muggleborns are in serious danger right now,” Hazel said quietly. “If you’re planning to go see Will… Well, he might not be at home.”

Nico looked up suddenly. “Who said anything about Will?”

“Oh, well Frank told me that you two―”

“He told you _what_?”

Frank sighed. “Listen, we’re warning you. If he’s smart, which I know he is, he’s probably on the run right now. You won’t have much luck finding him.”

Nico sat in silence, unsure of what to say next. This changed everything. He’d planned to go to Will’s home next but if he wasn’t going to be there…

And Merlin, what did it matter if he was there or not? Who cared how it affected Nico’s plans? _Will’s life was in danger_ and Nico was too busy thinking about himself. He frowned, angry at himself for being so selfish. He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I’m looking for him anyways."

“And how do you plan to do that?” Hazel asked.

“I’ll figure it out, stop asking so many questions.”

“Nico―”

He was already standing up and making his way out the door.

“Okay, _no._ ” Hazel stood up and grabbed his arm, forcing him to face her. “Listen, if you’re so insistent on blindly risking your life for him, then fine. I won’t stop you. But you are going to stay here and rest until you’re at least not sick anymore. Understand?”

Hazel’s features were set and it was clear he wasn’t going to change her mind. Nico’s expression softened. In that moment, Hazel reminded him uncannily of Will.

“Fine,” he relented, and relief shone in Hazel’s features as she led him back to bed.

After she left to get him some soup, he stared at the falling snow outside as he decided on a new course of action. Visiting Jason was no longer a priority, it didn’t matter. He’d get better as soon as possible and he’d spend that time figuring out how he was going to carry out his next plan.

He was going to find Will Solace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws more confetti* Things are picking up, my friends. I'm sorry if the plot feels slow right now. I feel like maybe it does? If so, I'm working to pick up the pace a bit. Thanks for reading :)
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos put smiles on my face*~
> 
> Come say hi to me on tumblr! (@doctorsorders-deathboy)
> 
> -Aspen


	8. Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so awful about the month long hiatus I went on for this fic. I won't bore you with my excuses, I just hope you enjoy this longish chapter that I worked really hard on (I seriously rewrote this three times, please love me).

Annabeth walked purposefully through London, hardly paying attention to whether or not Will was even following her. More than once, he worried he’d lost her in the crowds of people out to do their Christmas shopping before he’d spot her a few feet away and rush to catch up.

When she finally came to a halt, Will didn’t notice until he’d stumbled into the back of her, prompting her to turn around for one of the first times since she’d started walking. She put a finger to her lips before cautiously stepping into an alleyway. Will followed, attempting to walk with the steadiness that Annabeth did. Unfortunately, Will hadn’t quite gotten used to the length of his limbs and he found himself tripping more often than he’d like to admit.

The alley was eerily quiet, with no signs of people having been there anytime recently. Then again, Will wasn’t sure why anyone would  _ want  _ to go into this place, no matter what their motive might’ve been. He got the strange sensation that the further they went, the more the buildings moved in on them, until he couldn’t see any sign of the sky above. “Annabeth,” he whispered, embarrassed to say that he was afraid. He didn’t like the dark.

She turned to face him sharply. After seeing that he didn’t appear to be injured in any way, she turned forward again. “What?”

“How much longer are we going to have to walk through here?” Will shivered. It was even colder back here than it was out in the streets.

“Not long,” Annabeth reassured as they continued to move forward.

Just when they’d reached the point that it was literally too dark for Will to see in front of him, Will felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, trying to pull away before hearing a familiar exasperated sigh.

“It’s just me again, calm down,” Annabeth said, guiding Will a few steps forward before stopping.

Will heard her knock on something, making a long pattern of long and short knocks.  _ Morse code?  _ he wondered.

Suddenly, a door opened in front of them, bathing them in dim yellow light that seemed uncomfortably bright after trudging through the lightless alley. A hooded figure peeked out of the doorway, looking Will and Annabeth up and down. “Annabeth?”

Annabeth gave a small smile and nodded.

The figure pulled back their hood a bit, revealing a girl around their age with green eyes and red curls. “Who’s this?” she asked, gesturing to Will.

“Will Solace. He’s a sixth year like me and a close friend. Have you seen him around school before?”

The girl tilted her head. “He does look familiar.”

“He’s another muggleborn. I told him he could stay with us.”

The girl nodded, pulled her hood back completely. “Of course he can. Come on, we need to get inside.”

Annabeth, who’d never removed her hand from Will’s shoulder, pushed him inside, quickly pulling the door shut behind them. The two girls led him down a staircase that turned in a very tight spiral down an extremely small stone corridor. Will was certain that he’d either pass out from dizziness or claustrophobia. He’d never actually felt claustrophobic up until then.

Luckily, the staircase wasn’t all that long, and they soon found themselves in a large room full of teenagers milling about. The room was made entirely of stone and had a rather low ceiling but there was something about it that felt cozy. It was littered with bags and personal belongings sitting in piles, with sleeping bags and blankets spread out across the cold floor. There was a fireplace in each of the four walls, which made the underground chamber comfortably warm, despite the fact that they were standing in a stone box surrounded by frozen ground.

Annabeth finally let go of Will’s shoulder, guiding him to a corner of the room where she sat on a quilt that had been spread on the ground. “These are my things,” she said, gesturing to the bag of possessions that sat by the quilt. “If you can find an empty space of floor, it’s yours.”

“What is this place?” Will asked, taking the room in.

“It’s an old hiding place protected by a lot of magic. Women used to use this place as a hideaway long ago when women were frequently burned for being supposed witches. The ones who were actually magical took refuge here. Now the chamber’s purpose is for the safety of muggleborns. Most are Hogwarts students around our age.”

“How did you find this place?”

Annabeth smiled. “Rachel. The girl who led us inside, she’s an old friend. She was warned by the same half-blood who warned me and told me I needed to go into hiding.”

Will nodded. “Thank you, by the way, for letting me know. I don’t know if I thanked you before.”

“It was nothing,” Annabeth said, shrugging dismissively. “I wasn’t going to just leave you to die.”

Will gulped. But that was the reality of his situation, wasn’t it? He was closer to death than he’d ever been. “So what now?” he asked.

Annabeth let out a long breath. “I don’t know.”

~*~

It didn’t take Will very long to settle into life down in the chamber. Multiple people had games set up around the room and everyone took turns doing the various chores necessary to keep the place running smoothly. Annabeth was in charge of the chore schedule and essentially kept the sanctuary from devolving into chaos.

Will was eager to find his own purpose to the group, as everyone else seemed to have one. Some people took care of food preparation and distribution and some focused on taking care of the younger kids there. It wasn’t until one day when Will was talking to Rachel that he heard about a job that he was interested in.

“So where do you guys get all of your supplies from?” he asked. “I mean, the food and everything.”

“We have a team of people who go out and get stuff for us,” Rachel answered. “It’s probably the most dangerous job here but I think it’s really beneficial for some people. Some of us can’t stand being cooped up all day.”

Will perked up at that. He definitely fell into that category. He missed feeling the sun on his face, however limited the sun may be in the winter.

“Is there a way to join the team?” Will asked tentatively.

Rachel looked surprised. “Well, you can talk to Luke if you’re interested.” She pointed across the room towards a tall boy with sandy blond hair. “He leads the raids.”

“Wait, what?” Will asked. “Raids?”

Rachel nodded. “We tried scavenging originally, but there just weren’t enough resources to feed this many people. So the team has resorted to stealing from families that are known to be openly against muggleborns.”

“Oh.”

“It’s not the most morally righteous thing to do,” Rachel admitted, “but we’re in this situation because of people like them so I think we’re justified. It’s kind of like a Robin Hood philosophy.”

Will nodded slowly. “I guess so. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Rachel said, smiling.

~*~

Will had never actually had a conversation with Luke Castellan before and was admittedly nervous. Luke was intimidating, honestly. Luckily, Luke was friendly and happily accepted Will to join him and the rest of his team.

“Our next raid is tomorrow night,” Luke said. “We won’t expect you to do too much. Just follow our lead and try to get a feel for what the raids are usually like, okay?”

“Sure,” Will said. He was kind of disappointed that they were going out at night but he supposed it was better than staying in that stone room forever. The only times people were ever allowed to leave was if they had to go to the bathroom, and even then they weren’t supposed to leave the darkness of the enchanted alleyway.

The next night, Will left with Luke and the other members of the team. The only other person Will knew by name was Ethan Nakamura, but Will had never spoken to him before. Everyone else there seemed a bit older than Will and a lot more intense. Will decided to stick with Luke.

“You can ride a broom, right?” Luke asked Will as they made it to the entrance of the alley.

“Yeah.” Will didn’t mention that he wasn’t terribly graceful at it.

“Good,” Luke said, as he handed him a broomstick.

“So where are we going tonight?” Will asked.

Luke grinned. “The Di Angelo Manor.”

Will was so taken aback he didn’t have the sense to get out a response before the group was shooting up into the sky. Will hurriedly followed them, wobbling along on his broom before getting the hang of it enough to fly in a straight line. It was rather hard to carry a conversation while flying at a high velocity through the cold night air, so Will just focused on flying properly despite the fact that his mind was racing.

They were going to Nico’s house. They were going to  _ steal _ from Nico’s house. But that was okay, right? Nico’s family would be able to afford the loss of some food. Besides, whenever Nico mentioned his father, he was always talking about much he hated him. But what if he saw Nico tonight? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? Will had missed him so much but this didn’t really seem like it’d be a great reunion. As they started to descend towards a large manor, Will’s stomach was twisted up so much he was amazed he was keeping all of his food down.

“Follow my lead, Will,” Luke said with a smile before the team set to work.

The group worked with an ease that said they had done this kind of thing many times before. Will probably would have been more impressed with their abilities to break in and sneak around without being caught if he wasn’t so nervous. One thing that Will did become acutely aware of was how lonely the house seemed. It was huge and the only living things they came across were the occasional house elves, which were easy to avoid.

Will found himself much more interested in the house than in the mission. This was  _ Nico’s home. _ Nico  _ grew up here. _ This was the place where he ran around as a little kid. This is where he played with Bianca. This is the building where he was sleeping  _ right that very moment. _

“Alright,” Luke whispered. “Here’s where we split up.” He gave out directions to various members of the group as Will was distracted by a portrait on the wall. Was that Nico’s mother? Or was it his step mom? Was it someone Nico had ever even known?

“Will?”

He snapped his head around to face Luke. “Yeah?”

“Who do you want to go with?”

Um.

Well.

“Do you think… Do you think maybe I could go solo? I’ve always tended to work better on my own.”

Luke shrugged. “Sure. That’s what we’re all doing. Just grab anything that looks like it could be beneficial to us, okay? We’ve got all the bases covered.”

Will nodded. As everyone else went off to do their own thing, and Will found himself in search of the stairs.

~*~

Once he reached the second floor, Will discovered a very significant flaw to his plan: He had no idea how to find Nico’s room without opening every single door along the hall. He settled for searching for any sign of one of the rooms belonging to Nico. Maybe he’d luck out and Nico’s room would have a nameplate on it or something?

The second floor was void of any signs of Nico, so Will made his way up to the third level of the house. He was beginning to lose hope when he came across a door that had been left open a crack. He peeked in and upon seeing no signs of people, decided it was safe to proceed. Pushing the door open far enough to get inside, Will found a huge mess within the room.

It was a wreck. The bed sheets had been practically ripped off of the bed. The duvet laid in a crumpled heap across the room. Various belongings that Will figured had previously been sitting on the desk had now been pushed to the floor. Drawers had been pulled out and tossed carelessly. Will swallowed hard. He had a bad feeling about this.

He picked up a crumpled piece of parchment from the floor, carefully smoothing it out. In contrast to the careless destruction of the rest of the room, the paper had been purposely crumpled up into a tight ball. Once Will was able to read it, his heart stopped. That was  _ Nico’s _ handwriting.

_ Just so we have a bit of disclosure, yes, I do in fact hate you. And yes, I’ve chosen my side, Father. It’s whichever one you’re not on. I doubt you’ll want to look for me, but on the chance that you’re desperate enough to recruit as many bigots as possible that you do feel the need to find me, don’t bother. You won’t find me. I can guarantee it. _

_ Goodbye, Father. Fuck you. _

Will sucked in a breath. Nico had left. He was filled with a strong sense of hopelessness. How was he supposed to find him now? What if Nico had gone to Will’s house to find him? Will’s hands shook as he carefully folded up the paper and stuck it in his pocket.

He was startled by some shouting down the hall. Adrenaline shot down his spine as he pulled out his wand and stuck his head out the doorway. He couldn’t see the people who were dueling, but he saw light from spells being cast around the turn in the hallway. Will didn’t move until he recognized Luke’s voice shouting spells.

Luke needed help.

Will bolted down the hall, a jinx on the tip of his tongue, but the moment he turned around the corner, a wand was pointed towards him.  _ “Stupefy!” _

Will collapsed immediately, but before unconsciousness fully wiped over him, he saw a face above him.

_ Nico. _

“Will!” he cried, pulling him closer. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Will, can you hear me? What’re you doing here? Oh Merlin, you shouldn’t have come.”

_ “Stupefy!” _ Luke’s voice sounded like it was through a tunnel to Will’s ears, but he saw Nico falling over with vivid clarity. 

Will wanted to shout, he wanted to stand and shield Nico, he wanted to hold him close, but the spell overpowered him and he soon found himself in a deep sleep.

~*~

Will woke to angry discussion surrounding him. He sat up groaning, rubbing his forehead and trying to get his eyes to focus properly.

“Will,” came Annabeth’s voice. A cool cloth was pressed to his head. “Are you okay?”

Will blinked groggily, taking in his surroundings. He was back in the underground chamber along with the rest of the group he’d gone to Nico’s home with. A small selection of people had gathered in a circle where Will laid. Each of them played a significant role in running the safe space that had been created for muggleborns. Annabeth looked at Will sympathetically but Luke glared at him with so much fury that Will actually jumped a bit in surprise.

“Where’s Nico?” Will asked, ignoring Annabeth’s question. He looked at Luke in panic. “What did you do to him?”

“You never told us you two were dating,” was Luke’s answer, laced with accusation.

Will fixed his eyes on Luke’s. “I asked you a question,” he said, his voice uncharacteristically low. “I suggest you answer it.”

Rachel sat fidgeting throughout this exchange, visibly uncomfortable. Upon Will’s sudden change in character, she looked downright scared.

Luke rolled his eyes. “I left him on the floor after I stunned him. He got in the way of our mission and, if you didn’t notice,  _ incapacitated you. _ ”

Will’s fists clenched. “What was he even doing there?”

“What do you mean? He lives there.”

“Yeah, but―” Will stopped himself. They didn’t deserve to know that Nico had run away. “Nevermind. But tell me: Who was the first one to shoot a curse last night?”

Luke scoffed. “That shouldn’t matter. I can’t believe you’re  _ defending _ him.”

“What do you have against him?”

Luke looked at Will incredulously. “What do you  _ think _ ? Have you heard the things his father says about wizards like us, Will?”

“Have you heard the things  _ Nico _ says about wizards like us, Luke? We’re dating, for Merlin’s sake. Him, a pureblood, dating me, a muggleborn. If you think that’s some show of his great hatred for impure wizards, then read my lips Luke, which, I might mention, Nico has rather enjoyed kissing recently―”

“Okay,” Annabeth interrupted. “Could you two calm down? The mission was successful, we got plenty of food. Everything’s fine, alright?”

“How can you say everything’s fine?” Luke exclaimed. “We have resorted to living underground and some of us have the nerve to freaking go around talking about how they’ve kissed the people who have forced us down here!”

“Listen,” Will snapped. “If you have the nerve to say I can’t be in a relationship with a pureblood, then you’re just as bad as the people who say that wizards shouldn’t be in relationships with muggleborns or muggles.”

“That’s completely different.”

“How so?”

“Guys,” Annabeth interrupted again. “This argument is pointless.”

“No,” Will said. He stood up and began shoving his few belongings into his bag. “I’m leaving.”

“You’re what?” Rachel asked, startled.

“Will, stop. You’re being ridiculous. It’s not safe out there,” Annabeth insisted.

“Nico’s in trouble. I know it.” Will didn’t know why Nico would’ve returned to his home after writing that letter but he doubted it meant anything good. “I’m going to go find him.”

“Let him,” Luke said. “What do we care?”

“Will, please. Be rational about this,” Annabeth said, though it was clear she could tell she’d already lost the argument.

“No. If Luke’s not going to be, then I don’t have to either.” Will slung his rucksack over his shoulders. “Also, I’m stealing one of the brooms.”

Luke chased Will the whole way out of the alley, shooting curses blindly, but once Will was up in the air, he didn’t bother pursuing him.

The cold air felt like knives hitting Will’s skin as he flew high above the city, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He needed to find Nico and was willing to do whatever he needed to in order to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So again, I'm sorry about leaving you guys for a while. I hope you enjoyed this chapter at least. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Come yell at me on tumblr! Or tell me about your pet or something, idk, animals are cool. [doctorsorders-deathboy.tumblr.com](http://doctorsorders-deathboy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> -Aspen


	9. Nico

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, it's terribly paced, but it's here! Sorry I'm getting this up so late in the evening but if I'd uploaded this earlier it would've been terrible. (i rewrote this thing four times. four. damn. times. why am i like this) I hope you enjoy it ;)

When Nico first opened his eyes after he came to, he admittedly wasn’t sure if they were open at all. Wherever he was, it seemed pitch black.

He groaned, attempting to sit up and wincing at how sore his back was. He looked around trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Slowly, it worked. He frowned recognizing where was. What was he doing there? He was at Frank’s, wasn’t he?

As soon as he remembered what had happened, he felt like he’d been doused in ice.

Letting out a breath, he clutched at one of the stone support beams that stood throughout the room and slowly made it to his feet. He frowned. He was a lot sorer than he should’ve been.

Carefully stumbling forward, reaching for support beams as he went, he made his way to the front of the dark cellar, shivering at the cold. He tugged at the doorknob, not surprised when it didn’t budge. Great. He was a prisoner in his own home now.

He scowled. It wasn’t Luke who had done this, he knew that. It must have been his father. Still, despite Hades’ many flaws, this seemed a bit out of character for him.

Sighing, Nico wandered around the room, looking through the various boxes that were stacked along the walls for something that could help him break out. He frowned at the realization that he didn’t have his wand with him. Even if he did find some form of escape, he wouldn’t be able to accomplish much without his wand. Besides, he wasn’t leaving this house without taking what he came for.

He continued to stumble around, slowly getting used to the felling of his limbs again. Much to his relief, the soreness he’d felt when he’d woken up was starting to fade away. He wasn’t sure how long it took him to look through all of the boxes, but by the time he was finished he was exhausted. He slumped down against the concrete wall, slamming down his hand in anger. His palm stung after slapping the hard ground, but he hardly cared. He was out of options and ideas and now had no choice but to wait.

~*~

Nico must’ve fallen asleep again, despite how uncomfortable he was, because the next thing he knew he was wincing at a sudden amount of light that was filling the room as he tried to shake off the grogginess of sleep.

“You finally came to, then?” asked a familiar voice, though Nico was surprised to find that it wasn’t Hades.

“Persephone?” he asked, still adjusting to the light after having been in complete darkness. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

She sighed. “I wish.”

Finally able to see properly, Nico sized her up, trying to tell what she was thinking.

She looked more tired than anything, to be honest. Her hair wasn’t as immaculate as it usually was, and there were bags under her eyes. Nico’s eyes widened at that. His stepmother usually cared much more about keeping up her appearance.

She let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, sorry I couldn’t look nicer for you. Though, to be fair, I’m definitely in better shape than you are at the moment. You look like you haven’t showered in a week.”

That was probably true. Nico’d lost track.

“How long was I out?” he asked.

Persephone shrugged. “I found you hours ago. It’s almost dawn now.”

“Wait, _you_ put me down here?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. Your father doesn’t even know you came back.”

Nico couldn’t help but be relieved at that. Still… Persephone might seem less threatening than Nico’s father but Nico’d learned the hard way that she could be even worse.

“Anyways, I’m not going to keep you here if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said. “I actually want you to leave as soon as possible. The house is so much nicer when you’re not in it.” She rubbed at her temple as she let out a yawn. “I threw you down here partly because I didn’t want your father to find you and largely because I didn’t know what else to do with you until you woke up.”

“Please don’t tell me you _actually_ threw me down here.”

She made a face. “Well I didn’t want to drag your limp body down two flights of stairs, now did I? I levitated you and then…” She made a vague gesture with her hand. “... just kind of dropped you there.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“Yes, you’re definitely welcome. I can assure you that your father would have been less sympathetic.”

Well, she had a point there.

She sighed, cracking her neck. “Listen, I’m going to let you go but only under two conditions.”

“What are they?”

“One, you have to promise never to come back.”

“Done.”

“And two, I want you to tell me why you were with that group of thieves.”

“I wasn’t _with_ them,” Nico said indignantly. “I came here by myself. Why do you think they stunned me?”

“I just assumed you led them here and then they betrayed and left you.” She shrugged. “It’s what I would’ve done.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“What were you doing here then?” she asked. “Did _you_ come to steal something?”

“No,” Nico lied. “I came to get something from my room. Something that I can assure you belongs to me.”

Persephone snorted. “Well there’s a good chance it’s wrecked by now. Your father trashed the place after you left. He was insanely angry, you’re lucky you weren’t there to see it. Now, up.” She motioned for him to follow her. “Your father’s still sleeping, I got up early so that I could get you out. You can grab the thing you need from your room before I make you leave. And I assure you, if you come here again, I won’t be so considerate.”

“Wait,” Nico said. “Where’s my wand?”

“Right here,” she answered, holding it up. “You’ll get it back when you leave but I’m keeping it for now in case you try something.”

Damn it.

Nico followed Persephone through the mansion, careful not to make too much noise. It was eerily quiet at this time of day and Nico was filled with a strong desire to just run out the door and forget everything else. He’d always hated this house, it reminded him of too many things that he wanted to forget.

Once they reached his room, Persephone pushed the door open. “Okay,” she said. “Be quick.”

He carefully stepped into his room, seeing that Persephone had been right. The place was a wreck. He looked around for something that would be suitable for him to grab and pretend it was why he’d come here when he spotted something that made his breath catch in his throat.

Two pale blue eyes peered out of his wardrobe, desperately trying to make eye contact. Once Nico had noticed him, Will gave him a nervous smile and a small wave.

Persephone wasn’t able to see the wardrobe from where she stood, but she was able to see Nico’s reaction clearly. “What is it?” she asked. “What are you―”

She started to step into the room but Nico quickly hissed, “Stun her!” and Will got the message.

He jumped out and shouted the spell before Persephone even had a chance to process what had happened. As soon as she slumped down against the wall, Nico ran to her and whispered, “Sorry,” before grabbing his wand from her hand and turning to face Will. “What are you doing here? Why’d you come back?”

Will looked surprised at the question. “For you.”

Nico opened his mouth to speak but the words died on his tongue. “Oh… Right. Er…” He looked Will up and down, finally taking in the fact that he was _here_ , that they were finally together again. When his mission to find Will had taken an unfortunate turn, he’d gotten distracted from his main goal, but here Will was.

Will looked okay, much to Nico’s relief. He looked relatively well cleaned and well fed and rested at least. He must have found a safe place to hide. Nico suddenly felt embarrassed of his own physical state.

Will smiled gently at him, opening his arms wide. Nico was in them immediately, surprising himself. He’d hardly realized how much he’d missed Will, but now that they were together, he just wanted to hold him and never let go.

“I missed you,” Will said, letting out a breath that sounded like he’d been holding it for a long time.

“I missed you, too,” Nico mumbled into Will’s shirt, part of him hoping that Will didn’t hear. He wasn’t good with sentimental stuff. Pulling back, he said, “We need to get out of here.”

Will nodded. “Yes, please.”

Nico grinned at that, turning and leading him out into the hall. “We just need to make one quick detour first.”

Nico carefully opened the door to Hades’ study, before hurrying across the room to behind the giant mahogany desk.

“What are you doing?” Will asked.

“Can I have your bag?” Nico asked in response. “Persephone took mine. Thank Merlin there wasn’t anything important in there.”

Will handed his bag over as he repeated his question. “Sure, but what are you doing?”

Nico didn’t answer as he carefully removed the large painting that hung behind Hades’ desk. Will gasped as Nico revealed the safe that was built into the wall. Nico carefully opened it, having known how to do it since he was nine but storing away the information until it’d be necessary.

Upon pulling back the heavy steel opening, Nico grinned at the stacks of galleons that sat inside. “Help me get them in here,” he instructed, already shoving coins into Will’s bag.

“All of it?”

“All of it.”

Will widened his eyes, but didn’t say anything else, instead assisting Nico in scooping all of the coins into his rucksack.

Once they’d finished, Nico set the bag on the floor and asked for Will’s help in hanging the painting back up. Once they’d done so, Will picked up his bag, frowning at how heavy it was now.

“Let’s go.” Nico led them both down the stairs and through the house towards the back door. They froze when they heard Hades’ voice coming from the dining room as he yelled at a house elf, but otherwise were able to get through the house rather easily.

“Do you have a broom?” Will asked. “That’s how I got here.”

Nico nodded. “Me too.”

Once they were both outside, ready to take off, Will shook his head. “That was too easy.”

Nico fidgeted. “My father… He’s been overly cautious lately. And in his attempts at making himself safer, he actually did the opposite. We used to have security but he fired everyone recently, deciding that he couldn’t trust that many people in his house at the same time. I’d thought he would’ve had some protective charms or something but apparently he didn’t bother. Well, either that or he just didn’t know how to do them. Charms have never been his strong suit honestly.”

“But he’s a _wizard_.”

Nico shrugged. “A shitty one. I mean, he’s very good at transfiguration and great at Quidditch but he’s pretty below average in most other subjects. Well, except the Dark Arts, I suppose.”

Will shook his head. “And he thinks muggleborns aren’t proper wizards,” he muttered, getting a dry laugh from Nico.

“Ready to take off?” Nico asked.

“Where are we going?”

“Just follow me. You’ll see soon enough.”

“Okay, just one last thing.” Will leaned forward and pecked Nico on the lips happily before pulling back, a huge smile on his face. “I’m ready now.”

Nico just scowled to hide his blush and shot up into the air. Will followed still smiling and, even though he couldn’t see it, he knew that Nico was smiling, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hopefully the plot made up for the quality?? Maybe??  
> Thanks for reading, I'll have the next chapter up a week from today ^-^
> 
> My tumblr: [doctorsorders-deathboy](http://doctorsorders-deathboy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos make me smile*~
> 
> -Aspen


	10. Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three cheers for the longest chapter yet!

A sort of ease settled over Will as he flew alongside Nico. For the first time in days he felt somewhat at peace. He’d found Nico at least and sure, they were both still in danger and unable to even return to their homes, but they had each other now and Will was surprised by how much of a difference that made.

They flew for a long time and it didn’t take long for Will’s hands to become numb enough that he could barely hang onto his broomstick. “Nico!” he called over the wind. “How much farther?”

“We’re close,” Nico called back, though it was several minutes before they landed.

“Where are we?” Will asked, pulling his coat tighter around himself. They were surrounded by big old houses that looked like they could be the setting of a horror movie if not for the freshly mowed lawns, expensive cars, and neatly trimmed shrubbery.

“Somewhere that’ll be safe to rest at for now,” Nico answered.

Will sighed. “You’re doing that thing where you give annoyingly vague answers again.”

Nico just grinned at him, and it was that mischievous grin that Will had completely forgotten how much he loved.

Nico started walking towards one of the huge houses, making his way to the backyard. A portion of the back of the house was covered in ivy, but otherwise the yard looked immaculate, like something Will might find in a home and garden magazine.

Nico walked over to the ivy, pulling out a rope that had been half hiding in the leaves. “Jason thought this might have been a good hiding place for the rope,” Nico explained. “But honestly we’re just lucky his parents never come out here.”

“Wait, this is Jason’s house?” Will asked, looking up at the building in surprise.

“Yep.” Nico tugged at the rope experimentally. One end of it was secured to a window above, though Will couldn’t see how from where he stood on the ground. “Will you be able to climb this?” Nico asked, gripping the rope in both hands.

“Um… no,” Will answered. Granted, he’d never really tried climbing a rope before but he was pretty sure that his lack of upper arm muscles would prove to make it impossible.

Nico let out a breath. “Well you’re about to learn,” he said, before grasping the rope and beginning to climb it. He made his way up with surprising agility, startling Will as he watched Nico move up the rope quickly and smoothly.

At the top, Nico pushed open the window and hopped inside, disappearing momentarily before peeking his head out again. “Okay,” he called down, though he kept his voice somewhat hushed. “Tie the rope around your waist or something and get a really good grip on it. I’m going to try to pull you up, you just need to hang on tight.”

“Are you sure this is the kind of thing we should be doing in broad daylight?” Will asked, listening to car engines starting from houses around the block.

Nico rolled his eyes. “Would you rather sit around and wait until nightfall?”

“Good point.” Will tried tying the rope around his waist but eventually decided that that wasn’t going to be his safest course of action, so he just wrapped the rope around his wrists and torso as many times as he could and then held on for dear life. “Ready,” he called up.

Nico bit his lip. “I really hope this works.” Then he disappeared again. After a moment, Will suddenly felt himself being pulled up, causing him to cry out in surprise. He moved up slowly and jerkily, squeezing his eyes shut and gripping the rope until his knuckles turned white. Eventually he heard Nico’s voice, much closer now, saying, “ _ Will _ , open your eyes, for Merlin’s sake, I can’t hold you up forever.”

Will’s eyes snapped open and he found himself right below the open window. He shakily pulled himself up and tumbled into the room, still tangled in rope, with help from Nico.

Will looked around the bedroom they were in, taking note of the expensive furniture. The rope was tied to the leg of a huge wooden desk that looked like it would require at least five fit people to carry it and the rest of the furniture looked equally well made. Once again, it looked like the kind of place you’d find in a magazine, not a room people actually lived in. 

Nico was slumped against the wall, trying to catch his breath. “You are  _ really  _ heavy, you know that, Solace?”

Will was also attempting to steady his breathing. “I’m also  _ really _ tangled up at the moment.”

Nico burst into laughter. “How did you even manage to do that?” he asked, gesturing to the lump of knots and blond curls that was Will.

Will was laughing, too. It felt good to let go and not think for a while. “Don’t ask me.”

Nico just shook his head, tugging at the rope to help Will untangle himself. “I was seriously considering just dropping you to the ground about halfway through,” he said. “I was going to go get Jason’s help.”

“Thank you for not letting me fall to my death,” Will said, finally managing to get out of the rope.

“You’re not welcome.”

“Wow.”

“I’m in  _ pain _ , Will. I had to use my entire body weight to get you up, I was literally dragging myself across the room.”

Will laughed at that mental image. “So what are we doing here?”

“Resting. I stayed here a few nights ago and Jason said I could stop by whenever I like. No one ever uses this room.”

Will decided not to ask his next question, which was  _ But what are we going to do after this? _ and instead just enjoy relaxing for a while. He hauled himself up and fell onto the bed, settling down on the soft duvet. “God, this bed is so comfortable.”

“Yeah,” Nico agreed, dropping down next to Will.

Will smiled at him. “I missed you.”

“You mentioned that before,” Nico quipped, though he was smiling, too. “Merry Christmas, by the way.”

Will raised his eyebrows. “Wait, that’s today?”

“Yep.”

“But… wait, it’s been a week since we left Hogwarts?”

“Just over that.”

Will’s eyes widened. “There was no way I was at the hideout for that long. God, time keeps passing too quickly, I can’t keep up. That makes me sound old, doesn’t it?”

“Hideout?” Nico asked in response.

“Yeah, Annabeth got me into this safe house for muggleborns. That’s where I’ve been for the past week. What about you?”

Nico shrugged. “I’ve been moving around. I left home on my first night back because I honestly can’t stand Hades. I stayed with Hazel at Frank Zhang’s house for a few days before traveling around some more. I stayed here for a couple nights but otherwise have just slept wherever was warm.”

Will frowned. “You should find a more permanent place to stay.”

“Eventually, yeah,” Nico said. “Once summer comes, at least. But for now… Well, I had been out looking for you.”

“Oh.”

They were silent for a moment.

“Thanks,” Will said eventually. “I’m sorry I didn’t really look into finding you that much, I just―”

“No, no,” Nico interrupted. “Don’t worry, I just knew that you were in danger and I wanted to make sure that you were safe. I got a bit distracted actually, which I’m sorry for. I guess in the end we really just lucked out, huh?”

“Yeah,” Will said softly, his mind elsewhere. “By the way, if you don’t mind me asking, what did you need all of that money for?”

Nico shrugged, but he looked uneasy. “Just to have. I was running low, so I just… You know, got some more.”

“Oh, okay.”

They sat in silence after that, tense at first until Nico let out a breath and curled himself against Will’s chest. Will immediately wrapped his arms around Nico, smiling into his hair. Nico fell asleep after a while, and Will carefully got up to close the window so that the room stayed warm. He went over to his rucksack, which had been left in the heap of rope, to get a clean shirt to wear as his current one had started to smell. Upon opening the bag, he saw the large amount of coins that weighed down his bag and frowned.

It occurred to him that Nico didn’t appear to have any possessions on him, which worried Will. Nico had said that Persephone had taken his bag, but he said nothing important had been in there. What counted as important? Did Nico still have clean clothes?

Will began to poke around the room, hoping that maybe Nico had stashed some of his things there. After all, the rope had been set up so that Nico could easily come back, which Will hoped meant Nico had trusted the place to leave his belongings at.

Will let out a sigh of relief when he found a stack of things under the bed. There were some clean clothes and scrolls of parchment along with a fleece blanket. Curious, he pulled out the scrolls and unrolled one, his blood running cold when he saw the text on it.

_ Death Eater Initiation _ , read the first one in bold letters, followed by various information that Will couldn’t stomach to read. Each scroll afterwards included various anti-muggleborn propaganda and similar information on joining radical pureblood elitist groups.

By the time Will had looked through all of the scrolls, his hands were trembling. The posters were bad enough as it was, crude and blunt, but the fact that Nico had been carrying them with him? Surely Nico wasn’t actually interested in any of that, he still clearly cared about Will, but then what was he doing carrying all of those things around?

Will shook his head. He should get some sleep, too. Despite having been knocked out for several hours, he was still exhausted from getting no proper sleep during the night before. When he woke up, hopefully he’d be able to clear everything up with Nico and it’d all be okay.

He quickly changed into a clean shirt and got into bed beside Nico. Nico instinctively pressed closer to Will in his sleep and Will wrapped an arm around him again, though his heart was heavy. Those posters had really shaken him. It was easy to talk about Death Eaters and pureblood elitists as a group, as a bad part of the world, but seeing those pieces of parchment had been a painful dose of reality. Those groups were  _ real _ , these problems, this hatred, it was all painfully real and it hurt Will to know that. The fact that there were so many people out there who would actually like it if he was dead was awful. Maybe not him  _ personally _ , but still. People wanted him dead.

It was unsettling and Will still hadn’t fully comprehended that thought. Ever since he was eleven, he’d understood what it meant to be a muggleborn and he’d known the struggles that came with it. He’d always been aware of the fact that there were plenty of people who despised him but lately he’d been forced to actually come to terms with that. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to.

~*~

When Will woke again, the sun was setting.  _ Great _ , he thought.  _ It’s nice to know that I’m nocturnal now. _ He sat up suddenly, realizing that Nico was no longer in bed next to him. 

He was relieved to see Nico sitting on the floor, but his stomach dropped at Nico’s guilty expression.

“Nico… What are you doing?”

Nico bit his lip. Will’s possessions sat in a pile on the floor. Nico held his rucksack, which was presumably still full of galleons. “I need to go out for a bit. I’ll be back soon.” He stook up, slipping the bag over his shoulders.

“No,” Will said. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.” He got out of bed. “What are you hiding from me?”

Nico looked at Will sadly. “I don’t have time to explain. I really need to go.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

Nico hesitated. “Do you trust me?”

Will was surprised to find himself hesitate, too. He didn’t know who to trust anymore. “Yes,” he answered after a moment. “I do.”

“Then just know that most of what I say in the next hour is absolute bullshit.” With that, Nico slipped out of the window, leaving it open for Will to follow. Will grabbed his wand and carefully lowered himself out of the window, pulling it shut behind him. He slid down the rope with little grace, tripping at the bottom and falling on his behind.

When Nico didn’t laugh at Will’s misfortune, Will determined that whatever was going on was more serious than he realized.

“When we get there,” Nico said. “You  _ need  _ to stay out of sight. Whatever you do, don’t let them see you.” He swallowed. “You’d probably be killed.” He took to the air, leaving Will to scramble onto his broom and follow.

Will tried to guess where they were going from the air but he had to admit that he had no idea. The only thing he was certain of was that he was more scared than he’d been the night he first ran away from home.

When Nico dipped down to land, Will landed a short distance away. He hid behind a dumpster as Nico walked up to a door and knocked. They’d landed in a shabby part of town that was pretty empty this time of night. Will figured this was the kind of place where even muggles weren’t safe this late.

The door opened to reveal someone around Will’s height in a cloak and Death Eater mask. “You came,” said a male voice from in the cloak.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Nico answered. “I told you I keep to my word.”

The figure grunted, opening the door to let Nico in. Nico met Will’s eyes briefly and jerked his gaze up to the window above the door. Will got the message and as soon as the door was shut, he got onto his broom. He carefully flew up to the window, peeking in. He had to look around the curtains carefully to see that he was looking into a long hallway. After a moment, Nico appeared at the other end, following the cloaked man. They both walked into a room off of the hall and Will flew around the building to where the window for the room was.

He worried for a moment, due to the fact that he couldn’t see into or hear anything from the room due to the closed window and curtains, but then Nico pushed through the curtains and opened the window slightly.

“What are you doing, di Angelo?” asked a voice that was vaguely familiar to Will.

“Don’t worry, I’m leaving the curtains shut. It’s just stuffy in here.”

“It’s freezing out there!”

“Yes, that would be because it’s December,” Nico deadpanned. Will heard the sound of his bag being set down on a surface, the coins jangling inside. “Now do you want the money or not?”

“I can’t believe you actually brought it,” the voice responded.

Nico let out a long sigh. “You’re going to have to get over whatever issues you have with me, Octavian. I don’t  _ have _ to help you, after all.”

Will froze at Octavian’s name. Oh, this  _ really  _ wasn’t good.

“I told you before,” Nico said. “I asked the Sorting Hat to put me in Gryffindor. It was my dad’s idea. I was supposed to be in Slytherin but I got in Gryffindor so that I could get to know Grace’s kid and Jackson’s.”

“And that’s why you dated the mudblood,” Octavian finished, sounding bored.

Will swallowed hard.

“Listen, I didn’t go through all of that trouble for you to mock me,” Nico said. “I’m willing to sponsor you, but if you’re going to act like you have fifty bees up your ass then I won’t bother. There are other uses for this money, you know.”

“And you actually brought as much as you said you would?” Octavian asked, sounding more interested than he probably wanted to let on.

“Take a look.” Will heard the bag opening and Octavian sucking in a breath.

“Octavian―” started the voice that belonged to the cloaked person that had led Nico into the building.

“Shut it, Kahale.”

“So?” Nico asked. “What’s your decision?”

Octavian didn’t answer for a few moments, and when he did, he sounded thoughtful. “There are more trustworthy sources we can get money from, you know.”

“Really? Like what?”

“That’s information you don’t need to know.”

“Hm. Speaking of information, must I remind you of the things I know that you don’t? Those are things you’re not going to find from other ‘sources.’”

“Right. And what exactly did you learn from snogging mudbloods?”

“Octavian. I know the exact location of the hideout he’s been staying in. I know addresses. I know what resources they have. I just have to snap my fingers, throw out an, ‘I love you,’ and I can learn whatever you need to know about their plans.”

“And what sort of plans would they have?”

When Nico spoke again, his voice was more hushed, effectively making Octavian listen more carefully. “They want to attack, Octavian. They’re no threat right now but they’re building an army. They have spies. I know the names of some of the spies. And I’m willing to be a spy for you.”

“And how do we know you’re not spying for them?”

Nico scoffed. “First of all, what would I even gain from helping them? I’m not an idiot, Octavian. Second of all, there really isn’t a way for you to know for sure where my loyalties lie. But you have to choose. Do you want my help or not? I haven’t got all night.”

“Oh, I’m sure you just have so many obligations you need to attend to,” Octavian said dryly.

“Alright,” Nico said. Will could hear him heaving the bag onto his back. “I’ll leave then.”

“Not so fast,” Octavian said.

“No,” Nico said nonchalantly. “I’m tired of this game you’re playing. Stop pretending like you’re the one who has the upper hand here, Octavian.  _ I’m _ the one who has things to offer you, not the other way around. I could easily go elsewhere.”

“Oh please, none of those other groups are as powerful as we are.”

“Absolutely, because a group of kids who have run away from their parents are such powerful contenders.”

“Look in the mirror, di Angelo.”

Will could just imagine Nico giving Octavian the creepy smile he was so well known for. “Your little pack of junior Death Eaters is certainly the most powerful at the moment. Why do you think I came to you first? But if I went somewhere else, I can guarantee that you wouldn’t stay in such a high position for long.”

Silence.

“Fine,” Octavian said. “If you want to help us, I’m not going to complain.”

Nico laughed. “Oh no, Octavian. You can’t do your whole, ‘I’m too great to accept your help,’ thing and now just decide to accept it like you’ve finally relented. I’m going to rethink helping you out. I don’t know if I want to be stuck helping your narcissistic arse. I’m sure there are other powerful groups who would be much more grateful to have me.”

“Stop being such a childish snob,” Octavian sneered.

“Look in the mirror, Octavian.” Will could hear the door opening, presumably by Nico. “I’ll be in touch. If I were you, I’d maybe find a bit of humility. Your pride may be your downfall.”

And then the door slammed shut and Octavian was cursing as Will flew back down to the ground.

Nico quickly slipped out of the building, rushing to his broomstick. “We need to get out of here,” he said urgently, already shooting up into the air.

Will followed, his mind reeling. By the time they landed back at Jason’s house, Will had more questions than he knew how to ask.

Nico quickly shimmied up the rope before pulling Will up, this time with less difficulty than that morning.

Once they were both sitting in the guest room, having caught their breath, Nico said, “I assume you have a lot of questions.”

“Yeah,” Will responded, nodding. He paused for a moment, trying to decide where to start. “Where did you learn to climb like that?”

Nico laughed. “Starting off with the deep stuff, are we?”

“Shut up. I’m curious.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “How do you think Bianca and I got up onto the roof on our old home?”

“Oh.”

Nico fidgeted. “Any other questions?”

“Yeah.” Again, Will took a moment to decide how to continue. “What were you… I mean, what… What were you trying to accomplish just now?”

Nico looked down at the floor. “I first got caught up in all of this because I was trying to get information on where you might be but… Well, Will, a war’s starting. And like it or not, it’s going to completely change our lives. I’d like to have a bit of say in how it goes, you know? I don’t want to just watch the world burn. If it’s going to burn, it’s burning on my terms.”

“That’s uplifting.”

Nico shrugged. “I don’t really know what I’m doing, honestly. Fake it until you make it, right?”

“I guess.”

“I’m sorry,” Nico added, “about the stuff you heard in there.”

“Don’t be,” Will said, shaking his head. “Thanks for not… You know, for not keeping secrets.”

Nico smiled sadly. “We’re going to have to trust each other if we’re going to get through this. I want to be honest with you.”

Will’s shoulders relaxed somewhat. “I want to be honest with you, too.”

Nico nodded decisively as if that settled things. “Alright then. We need to get ready.”

“Ready for what?” Will asked.

“There are some more people I need to go see tomorrow morning. Plus I should probably mention to Jason at some point that I’m back. I think he’ll want to come with us.”

“How come?”

Nico grinned. “His new girlfriend’s going to be there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed 600 words of Will and Nico trying to haul their asses through a window. For more quality content, come back next Sunday :D
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos make me smile*~
> 
> -Aspen


	11. Nico

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wish I had the time to post longer chapters for you guys, but with weekly updates I've found that I unfortunately don't :/ Idk, I'm trying guys.

Nico played with the hem of his coat as he waited with Jason and Will. The muggle coffee shop that they’d chosen as their meeting place was pretty busy for the day after Christmas. That was good, though. The more people that were in the coffee shop, the easier it’d be to blend in.

“When are they going to get here?” Jason asked, fidgeting nervously.

“Be patient, we got here a little earlier than we planned,” Nico said, hoping that he didn’t sound as on edge as he was. He hadn’t fully calmed down since last night and wasn’t looking forward to having to talk about it. Besides, explaining why Will had shown up was a whole different issue that would probably get him several glares from Reyna.

Finally, three figures came in the door, looking around the café before spotting Nico’s group in one of the booths. Jason’s shoulders relaxed upon spotting them but Nico only tensed up further.

Reyna stopped as soon as she reached their table, crossing her arms. “What the hell is he doing here?” she asked by way of greeting, gesturing to Will.

“Sit down,” Nico grumbled. “We need to talk about last night.”

“Yes, we do,” Reyna agreed as she followed Piper onto the seat with Jason. “But first I’d like to know why your boyfriend’s here.”

Nico sighed. “Reyna, he found me, not the other way around. I wasn’t going to send him away, he doesn’t have a safer place to go.”

Leo gave out a low whistle as he slid onto the seat next to Nico and Will. “If we’re his safest option, then he’s screwed. No offense,” he added, flashing Will a quick grin.

Nico glanced over at Will to see how he was doing. His eyes were slightly widened as he clutched his coffee tightly. They’d talked a lot the previous night and Will had told Nico in detail what he’d done during the past week, but when Will had went to ask Nico about what he’d been up to, Nico had tried to answer Will’s questions with the least amount of detail possible. The more Will knew, the greater danger he was in. Nico had told Will who they’d be meeting today but Will still seemed uncomfortable.

Then again, Nico couldn’t blame him. Reyna had a reputation. People knew not to fuck with her but most people just chose not to speak to her to be safe. Nico hadn’t talked with her much before the previous week but they’d spoken enough times to know that the other was good company if they were ever stuck with each other while their parents discussed politics. Nico had made a similar friendship―if it even counted as that―with Piper. Piper was a lot more approachable than Reyna but equally dangerous if you got on her bad side.

And Leo? Well, he was friendly enough, though it was common knowledge that he was smarter than he looked. Nico thought it was safe to figure that Leo wasn’t the kind of person you should cross either.

“You shouldn’t be wearing that,” Nico said, gesturing to the Slytherin scarf that peeked out of the popped collar on Reyna’s purple coat. “It’s not a good idea to go around waving flags about where your loyalties may lie.”

“I know that,” Reyna snapped. “I don’t have any other scarves to wear, though, so we’ll have to work with it.”

“Ah, what a fine time to be in a relatively non-controversial house,” Leo said with mock enthusiasm, leaning back with his blue and bronze striped scarf on full display.

“Why is he here again?” Nico asked.

“He’s useful,” Reyna said. She looked tired more than anything. Nico knew that she wasn’t normally so irritable. She could be agreeable most of the time, but if the bags under her eyes were any indication, she’d simply run out of energy to deal with people for the time being.

“I don’t know, Leo,” Piper said. “I’m not sure if there’s such a thing as a non-controversial house at this point.”

“Ravenclaw is still safer than Gryffindor or Slytherin,” Leo insisted, grabbing a biscuit from the table without asking. “Now,” he continued. “Did you get the cash?” he asked Nico.

Nico sighed.  _ Here goes. _ “Yeah, I did.”

“And?”

“Octavian seems on board. I riled him up and he definitely wants our help now.”

“But we still have the money?”

“Of course,” Nico scoffed. “It’s back at Jason’s place. Octavian wants the cash but that doesn’t mean he’s going to get it.”

“Wait, so you’re really not going to give it to him?” Will asked.

“Nope,” Jason said. “Also,” he looked at Nico, “Next time you show up at my house I’d like to know immediately. You’re lucky the maid didn’t find you.”

“Right,” Nico said dismissively, taking another swig of his drink.

Will fidgeted. “Okay, I have extremely limited knowledge of what’s going on here. What was the purpose of talking to Octavian last night? What are you actually going to use the money for?”

“Well the money’s our way in with Octavian,” Piper explained. “If we make him think that we have something he needs, then we get him to keep talking to us.”

“And he has an army?” Will asked.

“Yes, and it’s more powerful than you’d think. They’ve all been training and they have Octavian as a leader. Octavian can be dense but he’s a powerful public speaker which is important for being the head of an important group like that.”

“I don’t get it, though,” Will said as he sat forward, looking eager to be finally getting the information he wanted. “Why is Octavian even separate from the rest of the Death Eaters? Is his army all his age?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Turns out, the Death Eaters are several groups. There’s so much conflict going on just within their own ranks, you have no idea. They’ve split up into multiple smaller divisions with similar goals but very different ideas of how to achieve them. Octavian’s group of Death Eaters is mostly teens, but they’re one of the groups with the most potential. They’re a large division of Death Eaters and, with the right resources, they could pose a serious threat.”

“So what’s our goal in talking to them?”

“We need information,” Reyna said, glaring at Leo as he reached for another biscuit. “The main reason Octavian’s group is so powerful, or at least has the potential to be, is because of how much they know. It’s made up of kids from tons of different pureblood families, and they all joined the group having heard their own bits of knowledge from home. Our plan is to keep Nico talking to Octavian for as long as necessary so that we can learn what we need to know. Once that’s done, we get the hell away from him and avoid the assassins he’ll send after us, the bastard.”

“What are we trying to learn from him?” Will asked, only to be met by hesitative silence from the rest of the group. Will sighed, setting down his drink. “Why is it so hard to answer my questions?” He turned to Nico, expecting for him to be the one person to listen, but Nico wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“It’s dangerous for you to be here,” Piper finally said. Reyna shot her a glare but she kept going. “You’re a muggleborn, which you know has painted a huge target on your back. Being involved with people who are trying to accomplish what we are…” She let the sentence hang in the air, only furthering the tension that already existed within the group.

“I don’t get it,” Will said quietly. “I mean, yeah, it’s dangerous for me to  _ exist _ right now. What’s so bad about me being with all of you?”

“Will,” Nico said softly, finally looking up at him. Will’s brow was furrowed in worry and Nico was filled with an overwhelming urge to kiss him there, to make him relax and smile. He hated seeing Will like this. “We want to take down whoever is the huge leader of the Death Eaters, the overarching head of those people, but in order to do that we need to figure out who they are. That’s why we’re talking to Octavian. I’m going to work on getting information out of him so that we know where to start. We’re not going to give him the money because we need it to help fund our own plans. We’ve told him the muggleborns are forming an army, even though that’s not true, because we want to freak him out and pressure him into wanting our help sooner rather than later.

And it’s beyond dangerous for you to know all of this because it’s only a matter of time before people start hunting our group down, and when they do, you’re going to be the first person they target because of your heritage. And this sounds terrible, which is why we didn’t want to say it out loud, but if no one else has the guts, then I will: You could potentially compromise our mission. Yes, if they caught you,” Nico’s voice cracked momentarily and he prayed that no one noticed, “that would be beyond horrible for your sake, but if they used Veritaserum or something to get information out of you, it could completely ruin our operation.”

The silence in the group was thick, despite the clatter and chitchat of the surrounding coffee shop.

“Any more questions?” Nico mumbled, hoping he’d cleared most things up.

Will let out a breath. “No. But thank you for telling me what you did.”

Jason cleared his throat. “Okay, then. The plan’s going fine so far, then?”

Reyna nodded sharply, visibly relieved to have the conversation back on track. “Yes. We’ll give Octavian a few days to simmer before Nico goes back.  _ Hopefully _ he can learn everything we need to know then, but otherwise we’ll have to go to Plan B.”

Nico glanced over at Will, who now sat further back in his seat rather than leaning forward eagerly like he had previously.

“I have to use the restroom,” Nico said quietly, nudging Leo to get out of the way so that he could get to the back of the coffee shop. 

Once there, he splashed some cold water on his face before gripping the sink and meeting his own eyes in the mirror. Fuck, his hands were trembling. 

He grasped the sink even tighter in an effort to steady his hands as he took deep breaths. He was terrified. He was so, so terrified. This whole operation that his friends had put together and he’d willingly joined had seemed smart at first, but now he was starting to rethink all of it. Will was in so much danger right now, shouldn’t he just be focused on keeping Will safe?

_ But that  _ is  _ what I’m doing, _ a part of him insisted.  _ If we’re successful, then the entire organization that wants to hurt Will is going to be taken down. _

He soon decided to leave the room, feeling as if he might start crying if he kept thinking by himself for too long. Upon entering the small hall that the restrooms came off of, though, he found Piper leaning against the wall.

“What are you doing?” Nico asked.

“Waiting for you,” Piper answered, standing up straight. “Are you okay?”

Nico scoffed. “As okay as any of us are.”

Piper bit her lip. “You’re in deep, aren’t you?”

Nico raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure what she meant.

“You love him.”

Piper took Nico’s stunned silence as confirmation.

“If it means anything, I think you’re making the right decision right now. I think some of the others… I think they might not think Will’s capable of much. I think they’re kind of picturing him as a helpless victim right now. We both know that’s not true, though. We’re fighting not just for Will’s safety, but for all muggleborns. Will’s got to admire you for that.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Nico said, though his voice was hoarse and his eyes felt wet.

Piper gave him a sympathetic look―God, Nico  _ hated  _ that look―and held her arms out wide.

Nico scowled at her.

She just gave him a sad smile and held out her arms wider.

Nico rolled his eyes but suddenly found himself stepping into her arms, burying his face in her shoulder. “I don’t want him to get hurt,” he rasped into her coat. Fuck, Nico’s shoulders were shaking.

“I know,” Piper whispered back, holding him tight. “I know.”

Nico sniffled into her shoulder. He knew he should pull back and walk out to their table, but he couldn’t find it in him to do so.

He didn’t know how long they stood there, but Piper didn’t rush him. She let him get out all of the tears he had, murmuring reassurances to him the whole time.

Once Nico had finally gained control of his breathing, he set his jaw, pulling back. “They’re probably worried, we should get back out there.”

Piper nodded, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze before heading back out into the café with Nico close behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy mother of info dumps, I hope that cleared some things up for you guys. If you have any questions about the plot or if anything isn't clear, let me know :) My writing notebook is currently full of scribbled notes and mind maps about where the plot is going to go, so I'm really doing my best to keep things clear for you guys. I'd love to know what you think!
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos make me smile*~
> 
> -Aspen


	12. Will

Will’s eyes traced the pattern of the fabric that the bed’s canopy was made of, a deep red with scarlet swirls sweeping across it. The entire bedroom was a combination of rich maroon and dark wood. It made a stark contrast to the white snow lightly falling outside the window.

The bed shifted next to Will, the duvet bunching up next to him. “Get up,” Nico said gently. He smiled softly down at Will, though his brow was slightly furrowed. Will had a hard time remembering the last time Nico had smiled enough that each one of his features looked happy. It couldn’t have been more than a few days ago, though, could it? Why did a few days back seem like so long?

Will closed his eyes, burrowing further into the bed. “No.”

“Come on, I thought you were a morning person, Solace.”

“I am. I’m just enjoying the morning from in my bed.” Will shifted his pillow into a more comfortable position. The room was  _ cold. _

Nico sighed, relaxing into the bed in defeat, his feet tangling with Will’s. Will had to admit, despite the fact that most aspects of his life were falling apart, Nico had become one of the few things that still reminded him why life was so wonderful, and there was something about sleeping with Nico in particular that felt completely peaceful.

Of course, when Will said he and Nico were sleeping together, he meant that in the most innocent, literal way possible. Still, despite the fact that they were just sleeping, it was intimate in a way that made Will feel something that he hadn’t quite found a word for yet. He remembered when he was a kid, he’d sometimes have nightmares and crawl into his parents’ bed at night. There was something extremely comforting about sleeping next to someone else. Will was glad he could share that with Nico.

Nico shifted again, this time giving Will a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting up. “Come on, I want to get out of the house.”

Will groaned. “What top secret meeting are you dragging me to this time?”

Nico looked sort of hurt at hearing that but before Will had the chance to apologize, Nico spoke again. “No meeting. I just don’t like being cooped up.”

Will was quiet for a long time as he gathered the strength necessary to pull himself out of bed. “Fine, but I want breakfast first.”

Nico frowned. “We can’t just stroll down to the kitchen. Jason’s parents don’t know we’re here.”

“Then wake Jason up. I’m not going anywhere until I eat.” Will had meant for his stubbornness to sound playful, but it ended up sounding more, well, stubborn. Statements that may have seemed sarcastic and light hearted a few weeks ago suddenly began to sound literal when Will spoke them. He’d refrained from teasing Nico lately because he worried that Nico would think he was being serious.

What had happened to him? To them?

“Okay,” Nico said after a tense moment, opening and closing the door quietly as he left the room.

Will let out a breath, falling to the bed. He wanted to cry. He really wanted to cry. But he just physically  _ couldn’t _ for some damn reason and he was left feeling like he was about to explode if he didn’t find a way to relieve some of the tension in his chest.

Ever since the meeting with Reyna, Leo, and Piper, there had been some sort of barrier between Will and Nico. They’d spent the past day tip toeing around each other for fear of setting the other off.

They were beyond tired. They had lost a lot of their sense of humor. Will didn’t know how to  _ talk  _ to Nico anymore. And it hurt like hell because Nico was supposed to be one of the few parts of his life that made him happy.

Will somehow managed to get himself upright again and dressed for the day before Nico came back with Jason close behind.

“Today’s gourmet breakfast is, drumroll please, name brand cereal!” Jason announced, though his voice didn’t hold much enthusiasm.

“Thanks,” Will said, gratefully taking a bowl.

“No problem, let me know if you need anything else.” Jason left the room with his shoulders slumped as he ran a hand down his face. Will could tell that recent events had taken a toll on Jason, too.

Will and Nico ate in silence. Will wished he knew a way to break the tension, but he seemed to have lost the ability.

“That’s it,” Nico snapped as he finished his breakfast. “If I spend one more minute in this stuffy bedroom I’m going to scream.” He got up and pulled on his coat, already moving towards the window.

“Where are you going?” Will asked, quickly shoving his bowl aside and pulling on his own coat.

Nico pushed open the windows, taking a deep breath of the crisp morning air. “I need to fly.”

Will followed Nico on his broomstick as they rocketed upwards before shooting forwards at a velocity that Will wasn’t sure was safe. It took him a while to recognize what exactly about hurling themselves through the freezing sky was so enjoyable, but after Will had gotten control of his nerves he realized how liberating it felt. His hands were freezing, even through his gloves, and he was pretty sure he was going to have frostbite by the time they landed, but Will hadn’t felt this detached from the rest of the world in a long time and detachment was a strangely exhilarating feeling.

When he was soaring far above the rest of humanity and unable to feel much other than the sharp wind, Will was able to imagine that whatever was happening down on earth wasn’t all that important. From up where he was, it all looked rather small.

By the time they both landed back at Jason’s, they were panting and shivering but Will finally felt what he was pretty sure counted as contentment.

~*~

“So when do you go back and see Octavian again?” Will asked. He and Nico had found an old checkers board in one of the desk drawers and had been using it as one of their few means of entertainment.

“Tonight,” Nico answered, moving a piece on the board. He didn’t bother to elaborate.

“Would it be best for me to stay here?” Will asked, though he already knew the answer.

Nico nodded. “Yeah, I’ll tell you everything that happens when I get back, though.”

“Okay.”

Nico’s brow was furrowed in concentration, but Will got the feeling it wasn’t for the board game.

“It’ll be fine,” Will said gently, wishing he could do more to comfort Nico.

Nico snapped out of his thoughts at that, offering Will a small smile. “I sure hope so. I just…”

Will waited, allowing Nico to collect his thoughts.

“I don’t know if I want to be involved with this plan anymore. I’m thinking maybe… maybe I should just leave the world to burn. As long as the people I care about are safe, the rest of the world can do whatever it wants.”

Will raised his eyebrows, taken aback. “But Nico, we… well, I, at least, can’t  _ be  _ safe as long as this is what the world is like.”

“I just want to round up you and Hazel and our friends and take us all somewhere safe. I don’t want any of us to be in the line of fire.”

“I know,” Will whispered. “I want that, too.”

“I’m scared for you,” Nico said suddenly, his voice cracking. “I can’t stand… I don’t want for you to…”

“Sh, sh,” Will said reassuringly, moving over to Nico and pulling him to his chest. “I’m going to be completely fine, okay? I’ve got a brave Gryffindor on my side.”

Nico tensed in Will’s arms, his hands clenching.

Will frowned. “Why do you always do that? Why do you hate being a Gryffindor so much?”

Nico was silent for just long enough for it to feel uncomfortable. “Because I’m not one,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Why do you say that? You’re definitely brave, Nico. You―”

“I don’t  _ want _ to be one of them.”

“Why not?”

Nico pulled back suddenly, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. Something in him had snapped and he was suddenly much angier. “Do you want to know how Bianca died, Will?”

Will opened his mouth helplessly. This was not where he’d expected this conversation to go.

“A Gryffindor killed her. She was caught and arrested, but Bianca was already dead.”

Will was afraid to breathe.

“Bianca was targeted because she was a pureblood Slytherin. And I know that doesn’t make all Gryffindors bad so I don’t… I don’t  _ hate  _ Gryffindors or anything. I just don’t want to  _ be  _ one. I know that’s probably dumb and irrational but I just… I just miss her and…” Nico’s speech had turned into sobs as he sat clutching his sides, his head turned towards the floor.

Will pulled him to his chest again, relieved when Nico didn’t resist. He whispered small reassurances but knew they were only worth so much.

“Why does everyone hate so much?” Nico asked, looking up at Will as if he had all the answers.

Will shook his head sadly, pushing a piece of Nico’s hair behind his ear. “I’ll never understand it.”

Nico pressed his face to Will’s chest again as he let out another broken sob.

Will held him tighter, trying to imagine that his arms were a safe haven where Nico couldn’t get hurt. He looked out the window, watching as the wind picked up, pushing snow against the window. He felt so helpless sitting there. He couldn’t save anyone. He couldn’t change anything. He was just a sixteen year old kid trying to make it through school.

Now, he was trying to make it through the year without getting killed.

“I’m not doing this anymore,” Nico insisted. “I’m not. You and I are going to run far away from here.”

“Sh, okay, Nico. It’s going to be okay. It will.”

Will figured that he’d probably sound a lot more convincing if he believed his own words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about my long hiatus guys. Slowly but surely, both my mental state and schoolwork load are getting better, though, so hopefully I'll be able to write more soon. I promise I'll get an update up during my winter break at the end of December. Sorry this one was so short :/
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos mean the world*~
> 
> -Aspen


End file.
